"Hey, I'm looking for anything you have on someone named 'Sparda'," Nero said to the receptionist as he entered the doors of the Bonesborough library. It was just after school, so he was still in his Hexside uniform, having told his mother earlier that he needed to stop by the library to gather some materials for a test that was coming up. Of course, that was only to hide the real reason.
The receptionist gave him a rather dull look. "Go check the Reference area. I'm assuming we should have something on the database regarding...whatever that is." he replied before pointing to a poster, "By the way, we're closing early for the Wailing Star meteor shower."
"Right," Nero had seen the Wailing Star before when he was seven and went stargazing with his mother. Supposedly it caused a lot of interesting magic to crop up whenever it flew by, with the effects being completely random. Ten years ago, it caused his right arm to set itself on fire. Granted, it was a completely harmless fire and he didn't feel anything, but his mom had a total freak out and encased it in ice to make sure nothing got burned. It took the ice melting a few dozen times and her seeing that he wasn't affected by it for her to calm down, and even then she had all her ice spells at the ready.
"Okay, where would I find something on Sparda," he mused out loud as he walked through the library. Ever since the fight against Bael, he'd been wondering just who Sparda was and how he was connected to him. Normally, if he didn't know something, he'd either peruse the scroll network or ask his mother, but neither of those were viable options for him. Firstly was because he tried the former and found two things; jack and shit. The only thing he found was some kind of movie called 'This is Sparta!', which was not only the wrong spelling, but apparently based off some movie from the human realm. Secondly was because asking the question to his mom would lead to her finding out about what he'd been up to, which was a massive no go for him.
So, the only major option he could think of was to look through either the library's personal networks, or through the aisles upon aisles of books to see if he could find anything. He was banking on the former to make this as quick as he could. Thankfully, he didn't have to travel too far and came across the Reference center and the many Crystal Balls, a few of which were still available.
As he took a seat, he cracked his knuckles and logged in, Just type in Sparda to the library database and figure out his whole deal. Should be simple enough. Nero typed in 'Sparda' and pressed ENTER. He groaned in frustration when the database came up and said 'NO RESULTS'.
"Okay, let's try something else," Nero then tried typing 'Sparda demons'. He'd gotten some articles regarding a few demons, but none of them said anything about Sparda. He then typed in 'Sparda of Hell', which had the same result and just gave him minor studies on lower circles of Hell. He tried typing several different searches regarding Sparda, but each and every one of them ended with no significant results.
"Dammit," he cursed under his breath, "Guess we're doing this the old fashioned way," he really wasn't looking forward to sifting through so many books to find something about the guy. Hell, he didn't even know where to begin. Just before he could get out of his seat and start though, he saw a familiar head of green hair with brown roots walk by carrying what looked like a few children's' books.
"Hey, Amity!" Nero loudly greeted, only for the girl to turn and immediately shush him. Right, library, he remembered.
Though thankfully, she walked up to him and gave a more natural greeting, "Hey Nero, what's up? Kinda in the middle of something."
"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm looking for anything this place has on someone called 'Sparda'. Know anything?" Nero asked. If anyone would know where in the library he could find what he was looking for, it'd most likely be Amity, seeing as she knew the place forward and back.
"Hmm, Sparda Sparda Sparda," Amity muttered as she scratched her head, looking up in thought, "Sorry. I'm not sure, but the section regarding individual histories of important Boiling Isles figures is right around the corner," she said as she pointed to where it was, "Maybe what you're looking for is there?"
Nero looked to where she was pointing, "Guess it'll have to do," he said as he stood up, "Thanks."
"Let me know if you find can't find anything. Maybe it's somewhere else here," Amity replied as she walked away. Nero saw she was heading towards the children's corner.
Nero shrugged and walked over to the section, seeing all the books organized alphabetically. Better start searching under 'S', Nero thought, getting to the s section right at that moment. He just hoped this wouldn't take that long.
This is taking too long, Nero was now thoroughly done with this section. He'd skimmed through every single book just to make sure there wasn't anything he was missing. Not a single one of them had anything related to Sparda in them. Sighing in frustration and slamming the last book shut, he put it in whatever open spot there was in the aisle, not really caring about if it looked organized or not.
Deciding he had enough, he figured his best bet was to ask Amity if there was anywhere else that information on Sparda could be. He walked around the corner and entered the Kid's Corner just as many of the younglings started excitedly running out, him just getting out of their way. Just as the red, eyeless, and rather deep voiced child hugged Amity's legs and thanked her, Nero's eyes explored the room until they stopped on a familiar face poorly hiding underneath a random book.
"Luz?" Nero asked just as the red kid ran past him. This got Amity's attention as well, directing her eyes to where he was looking. And while Nero was just plain surprised to see Luz here, Amity's face shifted from shock to outright annoyance.
"Ugh, you again," Amity sneered as Luz got up and tried to break the ice
"Hey Amity," she greeted as a book fell and she turned to Nero for a second and greeted less awkwardly, "Hey Nero! What are you doing here?"
"Trying to find some information," Nero answered, "You?"
"Returning Eda's overdue books."
"Great, so if you did that already, kindly get out," Amity bluntly said. Nero gave her a stern look that she promptly ignored.
Luz, on the other hand, attempted to break the ice, "So...reading to kids? I guess this sour drop has a hidden sweet center."
"It's for extra credit, nothing more," Amity replied as she picked up the dropped book.
"No offense Amity, but you're kinda shit at lying," Nero snarked as Amity walking to the center table in the kids corner. She gave him a look that made it clear she didn't want to hear anything.
"Hey! I have an idea about how I could help with the kids," Luz walked up to Amity, "What if we took turns reading? We could even do voices! I don't mean to brag, but I've been told that I have a very good mo-"
"Look!" Amity slammed the books on the table, making Luz jump back, "You don't see me going to your little 'Owl Shack' and bothering you while you, uh, fry owls."
"Amity, they don't fry owls there," Nero pointed out, "If they did, I'm at least half sure Eda would have eaten Hooty by now. Assuming he's actually anything owl related."
"Plus, we like to call it the Owl House, not the Owl Shack," Luz interjected.
"Whatever!" Amity yelled, "Look, just, every time you butt into my life, I get in trouble, so just go away already!"
"I'm sorry, I just...sorry," Luz looked saddened as she started walking away. Even Amity looked regretful for what she said, though she shifted her demeanor quickly and turned around.
"Amity, what the hell?" Nero questioned.
"Look, Nero, it's better this way. That girl just brings a lot of stuff with her that I don't want anything to do with."
"Kid, I have no idea what happened between you two, but to be honest, I don't really give a shit either," Nero softened his tone as he said, "Look, Luz is a good kid, and if she really did screwed things up for you, it's pretty obvious it was an accident and she's at least trying to make up for it. Least you could do is meet her halfway."
Amity looked to think about it for a second before she sighed, "It's too late anyway, she's already gone. No point."
"Not really, she just walked out, so I think you can ca-" Nero said all this as he turned to where Luz was walking, only to see her talking to the last two people he wanted to see here. Two heads of green hair, mischievous smirks, and dressed in Hexside uniforms like his, "Oh FUCK me!"
"Nero, what's..." Amity turned and saw what he was looking at, "Fuck!"
Nero looked back to Amity in shock, with Amity looking equally aghast at what just came out of her mouth. "I...I didn't," she turned and glared at him, "You will speak of this to no one, got it!"
"Hey, you don't have to worry about me saying anything," Nero held his arms up in surrender.
"Hey Mittens!" Edric voice called out, making Amity flash red with anger as she walked up to them, her brother holding out a lunch bag while telling her not to be a jerk to Luz. Nero had to admit that was probably one of the few smart things Edric said.
"She's not my friend!" Amity snatched the lunch bag. Nero turned and saw Luz looking sad, at which point he turned back to Amity.
"Amity," Nero chided before realizing that he was starting to sound like his mom. Not really something he wanted to do.
"Is there anything else you want? If not, just leave already," Amity seethed, not in the mood for dealing with either him, Luz, or her siblings.
Nero could only sigh and said, "Searching under S was a bust. Any other recommendations? It's kinda related with demons and other circles of Hell."
"Check under the H section for anything regarding Hell. If it's not there, then the library either doesn't have it, or it's located in the Forbidden Stacks in the back, at which point we might was well not have it since only staff members are allowed back there," Amity explained in a quick, 'matter-of-fact' tone before walking away, clearly not wanting to be around either Luz or her siblings at the moment.
"I put her in a bad mood, didn't I?" Luz said dejectedly. Before Nero could say anything, Emira wrapped her arm around the human in a playful one-armed hug.
"Nah, Mittens is always like that," she said before letting go, "Say, why don't you hang out with us instead?"
Luz looked surprised and Nero gained a nervous look. While Luz was a good kid, the last thing that anyone needed was her falling under the influence of the persistent prankster twins. Before she could say anything, Nero grabbed her by the shoulder and said, "Hold up. Be right back," he then dashed a few aisles away and turned the corner before letting go of Luz.
"Hey! Why did you do that?"
"Luz, trust me when I say this, you do not want to hang out with them."
"Why? They seem nice," Luz seemed oblivious to their hidden mischievous natures, much to Nero's chagrin as he slapped his face.
"Because they're a bad influence and are annoying as shit," Nero groaned.
"You kinda sound like you know them," Luz said as she brightened up, "Are they friends of yours?"
Nero grunted, "I wouldn't use that word. More like they're a pair of tumors that attached themselves to me when I was a kid and never left."
"That's a pretty weird way to say friends, ain't it?" Edric's voice popped up behind him.
"Would you two just go already!?" Nero shouted.
"Oh hush, this is a library after all," Emira snarked as she walked around him and placed a hand on Luz's shoulder, "Look, we just want to hang out with your friend for a bit, get to know each other and all. Is that really so wrong?"
"Well, not really, but-"
"Then just go read your books. There's really no harm in us getting to show the human the ropes," Edric said as he stood next to his sister before looking at Luz, "What do you say?"
"I...sure!" Luz perked up, "It sounds like it could be fun."
"See? No biggie," Emira clapped her hands as they started walking off, "Catch you later Claw Boy!"
As soon as they were out of sight, Nero groaned, "This is gonna end badly, I just know it will," as he slapped his face again before dragging his hand down.
"Alright, fine. No use dwelling on it. Just find the H section and see if that has anything Sparda related," at this point, Nero could only really hope that the Blights wouldn't do anything idiotic in the process. But he had a feeling they would. They always did.
"Ugh," Nero groaned as he put the last book back. He'd searched the entire section top to bottom and once again, it didn't have anything on Sparda that he could use. That was two sections of the entire place with nothing useful in them, and according to what Amity told him, that left only one place that could have something on Sparda.
The Forbidden Stacks, Nero mused as he walked out of the aisle just as Amity and one of the librarians walked by.
"Hey, Amity, the section didn't have anything I was looking for."
"Then we can't help you anymore than that," Amity replied without even looking as she and the librarian kept walking, seeming laser focused on something. Nero followed along with them for a few moments piecing together what was going on before he came to the answer.
"Edric and Emira?"
"Yep."
"Ugh, figures," Nero grunted before walking to the entrance, "Well have fun with that. I'm heading out." Nero heard Amity say 'Whatever' as he left, pondering what he would do next. As Amity said, the Forbidden Stacks was likely the only other place in the library that could have anything on Sparda, but it was inaccessible to non-staff members. No member of the staff would allow him access to it, and the only way he could see them doing so was if he told his mother what he was doing so she could waltz in and order them to let him through. The obvious problem with that was that Mom would find out everything, so that wasn't an option. He wasn't quite fond of the work around to both problems, but he needed to compromise if he wanted to figure out just what his connection was to Sparda.
Well, I already sneak out on a routine basis behind Mom's back. Guess breaking and entering wouldn't be that big a stretch, Nero mused nervously before shaking his head, Just get into the Forbidden Stacks, find what you can on Sparda, and get out. Simple as that.
"You've made reading far too fun. Now stay out!" As soon as the librarian shut the door, Emira couldn't help but belt out laughter at the whole thing. The human and Edric joined in, laughing up a storm as well.
"Man, I didn't think Amity could be more mad at me than she already was," Luz said as she wiped a tear from her eye.
"No no, if Mittens was really that mad, she'd look like this," Edric then made the angriest face he could, looking just like Amity whenever she got that pissed off. Soon enough, his face turned red and he had to take a breath, "Phew! Almost passed out there."
Yeah, Mittens really needs to lighten up, Emira mused. Years back, if one were to ask her, she'd say that Nero tended to be a lot worse than Amity when it came to being a stick in the mud since he added being a broody loner to the mix. Nowadays, Amity was definitely the worst of the two since she kept trying to get them into trouble just for having some fun. Even if Nero hated their fun, at least he didn't but in and try to ruin it.
Then, Emira had an idea that'd get Amity to lighten up for a change and hopefully learn to stop butting into their business. She looked to Edric, who nodded and had the same glint in his eye. Both of them looked back to the human and gave her a pleading look.
"Say, human, we were going to check out a book before we got kicked out and we're planning on sneaking back in to get it," Emira asked. Just in case, it wouldn't hurt to have someone who could help her and Edric out with this.
"Plus, there's going to be some pretty cool magic from the Wailing Star tonight," her brother added, "Would be cool to see what effects it could have on the library. You want to tag along?"
"Sure!" she exclaimed.
"Great, we'll meet back here at midnight," Edric said as they walked away and waved goodbye to the human. Once they were out of earshot from her, Edric said, "Hey, sis, are you sure about this?"
"Why? What's the big deal?" Emira asked, confused by her brother's sudden look of trepidation, "You seemed pretty on board with it earlier."
"No, I mean bringing her along. Not sure if this is something she'd want to do."
"Well, we could use some extra help, plus, it was fun hanging out with her, goofing off, pranking those dumb librarians," Emira explained, "And it's not like what we're doing will hurt anyone anyway."
"But won't Mittens-"
"Look Edric, Mittens gets mad at us all the time and she lets it go later," Emira stopped them for a moment to discuss it, "This is all for her own good. In the long run, she'll learn not to be such a killjoy sourpuss and this will turn into one of those stories you laugh about years later, alright?" Edric looked lost in thought for a moment, but he eventually gave a smile and nod. Emira gave her own smile back as they headed back home, all the while she tried reminding herself that they were doing this for Amity's own good.
Nero looked left and right as he crossed the street, checking if there was anyone around. Just get into the Forbidden Stacks, find what you're looking for, and get out, Nero thought, reminding himself of the plan. The good news was that tomorrow was the weekend, meaning he had a lot more time to get this done since Mom slept way longer on these kinds of days. Still, he had to be quick and sneaky about it, keeping his hood up and his right arm hidden beneath his sleeve so that its glow didn't give him away. In his left pocket was a spell parchment that could let him into the library.
Just as he rounded the corner to the street where the library was, he ducked back behind it when he saw two familiar heads of green hair walking up the steps. What the hell are they doing here? Nero looked back and saw they were talking to someone at the top of the steps. Getting out from the corner, but staying out of sight as best as he could, he hid behind a trash can before poking his head out to see that they were talking to Luz.
Great, just great. Nero groaned in his head as the three walked into the library, Emira using a spell parchment similar to the one he carried to enter the enlarged lock, with it shrinking back to normal once all of them were through. It was bad enough that the twins were starting to influence Luz in their own way, but now he had to worry about getting spotted by them here. After a couple seconds, he ran across the street and up the stairs, leaning on one of the columns for a moment. They just entered, so they're probably still in the receptionist area. Better wait a minute before heading in.
Suddenly, a bright light started arching across the sky, followed by a loud screaming. Nero raised his right arm to keep the light out of his eyes as he remembered, Oh right, the Wailing Star. Before he could muse any further, his sleeve caught on fire, causing Nero to panic for a second as he tore it off, exposing his now burning right arm. Ignoring that for now, he pulled the parchment out of his left pocket and held it to the door's lock, enlarging it before he entered into the reception area. Looking around, he saw that Luz and the twins were nowhere to be seen, but he could hear the sound of laughter and stray shots of magic. Nero did what he could to avoid them, listening in to the sound of their voices to know where they were as he looked for the Forbidden Stacks. He had a couple close calls as he made his way there, such as barely ducking behind the corner of an aisle when they entered it and Luz almost seeing the fire from his right arm in the reflection of an armor set she manifested from one of the novels, though the twins, thankfully, brushed it off as a trick of the dark. Nero had to admit, if he wasn't so busy, he'd actually be pretty interested in how the Wailing Star's magic was affecting the books here.
Luckily for him, he started to hear their voices fade into the far background as he neared the doors of the Forbidden Stacks, both of them large and imposing. Nero stood in front of them and paced for a good few minutes, wondering about how he could get them open. He didn't have staff clearance, so a clean, unnoticeable way wasn't in the cards. The parchment he brought with him was one-use only and even then, the doors didn't have a lock to enlarge, so that was out of the question. Really, the only option he could feasibly go with was to just brute force his way through them, but that came with its own risks.
At this rate, you really don't have any other options, Nero thought as he listened in for if the twins and their antics were getting anywhere near here. Thankfully, they weren't, leaving him to mull over his options for another few minutes before he finally decided on what to do. Standing in front of the door and cracking his knuckles, he pulled his right arm back into a fist and manifested its ethereal construct, itself also on fire due to the magic of the star.
But before he could punch the door clean open, a loud stomping noise sounded and was getting closer. Quickly dematerializing his arm, he jumped to the top of one of the book aisles behind him to see what was approaching. His eyes almost widened as he took in the creature's appearance. Whatever it was, it looked like a giant, pink, hulking rabbit monstrosity with fangs and talons that glowed an ominous shade of blue. It looked left and right with pitch black eyes, as if looking for something or someone. It said nothing, but it's snarling and growling confirmed everything he needed to know about it. As it stomped away, Nero questioned what the hell that thing was or how it got in the library. It sure as shit doesn't look like any demon I've ever seen, and if it's from a book, which one? He jumped down and just as quickly realized that Luz and the twins were still here, and with that thing running about...
"Fuck," Nero cursed as he ran down the aisle and turned a corner. He had to find them and get them out of here, then kick whatever that thing's ass was for good measure. Just as he turned another corner, he ran right into a pair of green-haired heads, all of them falling on their backs in the process.
"OW!" Emira groaned while Edric rubbed the top of his head. Emira looked up and her eyes widened, "Nero! What are you doing here? And why's your arm on fire!?" she asked with a surprising amount of concern as both she and Edric looked for a way to put it out. When they both saw that the fire wasn't bothering him, they sighed in relief before Emira grimaced, "Oh, please don't tell me you're going to pull a Mittens. Cause if you were about to tell us to get out of here for 'trespassing', we were about to head out for Goblin zipping anyway."
"Look, I'm not arguing with either of you guys about that," Nero said as he peaked out the corner of the aisle they were in to look for any signs of that monster, "Don't have any room to call you out on that right now anyway, but you two need to get out of here. There's something here and I think it'll try to kill you if it sees you."
"PFFT!" Edric laughed, with Emira joining in, "Good one Nero!" the two of them laughed for a few moments before they looked at him, faces morphing from amusement to confusion, and finally to worry, "You're...you're serious?" Edric asked, now looking frantically around.
"Yeah, and both of you need to get out of here. I need to find Luz and get her out to," Nero explained, "Where is she anyway? Weren't you with her?"
"She went back to check on Mittens after we found her diary," Edric said.
"Wait, WHAT!?" Nero shouted just as Luz's voice called out from far behind the twins.
"Hang on Amity! I'll save you!" They all turned just in time to see Luz run by at the other end of the aisle, oddly enough wearing a white witch outfit.
"Mittens," Emira and Edric both whispered, voices full of concern, though Nero's mind was still partially on what they'd said earlier, but that could wait. From the sound of it, Amity was in trouble.
"Let's go," Nero ran ahead of them in the direction Luz went as the twins followed after him, "What they hell were you doing with Amity's diary anyway?"
"Oh, we were planning on spreading out the pages to the entire school," Emira replied just as the turned the corner, Luz briefly turning into a puff of smoke ahead of them and heading right into the kids corner, "We just thought she needed to learn to stop being such a buzzkill."
Nero took a deep breath to suppress his anger as the sound of Luz attempting to fight entered his ears. Just save Amity and probably Luz now, punch and yell at the dumbass twins when you're done, Nero thought to himself as they all rounded the corner of the entrance of the children's area. There, he peaked and saw Luz waving a staff around and getting disarmed in the span of two seconds by the monster. Just behind the creature was Amity, her right arm sewn into an enormous book and forced into the shape of a two-dimensional drawing.
"Edric, is that...?" Emira whispered, but didn't finish the sentence.
"Yeah, I think it is. It's Otabin," Edric replied back, equally quiet. Nero noticed their tones of horror and guilt. Looking back to them just as the monster snapped Luz's book shut, depriving her of its powers.
"What did you do?" Nero tried to keep his tone low, but he was seething as he asked.
"I just drew an angry face and claws on Otabin, I didn't think this would happen," Edric whispered in horror as Luz was grabbed by the beast.
"Great, you're already two-for-two on the shitty siblings scale," Nero grumbled just as Otabin started sewing Luz's right arm into the book, making some kind of rhyme as it did so. Seeing an opening, Nero ran into the room and launched an ethereal arm right at Otabin's back, the intense heat of its flames making the creature wail in pain as he pulled himself to it. As soon as he was on its back, Nero formed a spell circle that engulfed his left hand in a torrent of lightning before he grabbed Otabin's face, making it screech in pain, desperately waving its arms around to reach behind it.
"Nero!" Amity and Luz both shouted in surprise. For his part, Nero didn't have time to respond as Otabin managed to reach behind and grab him. Unlike with its two victims, it didn't put him into the book, but instead threw him across the room, sending him slamming into the wall with a resounding crash.
Just as he dusted himself and got up, he looked to see that Otabin was now standing right in front of him, snarling, "You hurt me. You're not my friend. I will see that you end."
Oh goody, the rhyming schtick is a constant, Nero bemoaned in his head as he took a fighting stance, That won't get annoying. As Nero sized up his opponent, he took notice of the book that seemed to be fused to Otabin's chest, Looks like I found a weakpoint, Get rid of the book, and it should kill Otabin.
Just as Otabin raised its arms to slam down him, two lashes made of blue light coiled around them, holding it back. Just behind Otabin, Nero saw Edric and Emira trying to pull the creature away.
"Amity! Luz!" Emira shouted, "Run! We'll hold it off!"
Both of them looked worried before Amity started looking for a way out. Luz, however, struggled and tilted the book forward just enough to get both of them on their feet. While the two captives started running, Nero formed a fire spell and launched a steady stream of flames at Otabin's chest in an effort to burn the book, causing it to screech in agony once more. As he ended the stream, however, he saw that the book wasn't even slightly damaged.
"What the fu-" was all he could get out as, in one fell swoop, Otabin spun around and dragged the twins along, throwing them right at him and sending them all crashing into the wall once more. As he got up and dusted himself off, he saw Otabin run out of the room, likely chasing after Luz and Amity again. "Shit, how the hell did that book survive?" Nero asked no one in particular as he helped the twins up.
"Oh, that's because Mittens likes to reinforce all the books here to be completely fire retardant," Edric said, unaware that the question was rhetorical, "She does the same with her books at home. Always said it was to make them 'idiot proof'."
I get the feeling she meant 'sibling proof' when she said that, Nero wanted to say out loud, but it remained confined to his thoughts as he heard Amity shout "LUZ!", prompting him and the twins to run out in time to see Amity freed and Otabin dragging the large book towards him to make another attempt at sewing Luz into it.
"Oh no you don't!" Nero shouted as he launched an ethereal fist right at the back of Otabin's head, staggering it. The monster turned back and snarled in his face.
"NOT MY FRIEND!" it screamed before reaching out to slash him. Nero was quick enough to dodge and jump to its head once more, this time making another spectral hand to grab its head. Once more, the fire from his right arm made Otabin screech in agony as Nero jumped into the air and slamming the beast into the floor. Just as he was about to use the same ghostly fist to cave the creature's face in, he was suddenly swept off his feet and sent flying into a book shelf. Just as he got up, the shelf fell on top of him, knocking him to the floor again.
"Nero!" he heard Emira call out in concern as he began lifting the thing up, "Are you okay?" she asked as she approached.
"Let's just say that I officially hate libraries now," Nero grunted as he removed the few books that were still on him. Thankfully, none of them had opened. He didn't think he could deal with any more of book characters coming to life to give him shit. Just as Otabin's shadow loomed over him, Nero prepped up an ice spell to skewer it, but before he could...
"Hey, over-sized kiddie character! I'll be your friend!" Edric shouted, getting Otabin's attention, though when Nero looked down at Emira's twin, he sensed that it was just an illusion. Looking around, he saw Edric a ways off, helping his sister up and whispering something into her ear. Nero looked back at Otabin just in time for the monster to make an attempt at the illusion, only to grab nothing but air and back away in disgust. Before anything else, Amity and Edric stormed in on a cart and rammed into Otabin, knocking it onto the floor and sending it sliding back into another book shelf, this one falling right on its face.
Damn that was satisfying to watch, Nero smirked as Otabin struggled to get up before he and Emira ran to meet with Amity and Edric, who were helping free Luz from the book, returning her arm to a more three dimensional shape.
"Oh third dimension, I've missed you so much," Luz rubbed her arm just as Nero heard the sound of creaking wood and a familiar, annoying rhyme.
"We will stay friends until the end," Otabin rasped before glaring at Nero, Edric, and Emira, "Those who take my friends will end!"
"Okay, rhyming friends with friends was bad enough, but now end with end!" Luz groaned in annoyance as it swiftly grabbed her and picked her up, beginning to wrap her in the magic thread from before.
"Shit!" Nero turned to the Blights, "How the hell do we stop this thing? It just keeps getting back up!"
"All this started when I drew in that stupid book," Edric said forlorn.
"Wait, that's it!" Amity said, prompting Nero and the twins to turn to her as she started writing something in the large book they just got Luz out of. When she finished, a large eraser appeared, "Luz! Catch!"
Amity threw the eraser to Luz, who caught it and started erasing the pages of the book. In seconds, Otabin's eyes widened and it disappeared, its place taken by a small, more adorable version with bright blue eyes that Luz caught as she hit the ground. All of them walked up to the two as Luz put Otabin down and Amity picked him up.
"I'm so sorry," Otabin said, voice laced with regret, "I don't know what came over me."
"Uh, my bad," Edric sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his head. Emira also looked away shamefully.
"We'll talk about that later," Amity leveled a glare to her two siblings before giving Otabin a more gentle look and a small hug, "And don't worry Otabin, we're still friends." She then looked to Luz with a nod, who then closed Otabin's book, causing him to disappear. Amity looked sad for a moment before Luz walked up and offered her a comforting smile.
"So..." Emira awkwardly drawled out, "If that's the end of that, I think we should all head home now."
"Yeah, Mom's probably gonna start worrying soon enough," Edric added before the two turned to leave. Nero wasn't allowing it and formed a spectral arm right in front of them, halting their exit. Thankfully, it seemed as though the Wailing Star event ended mere seconds before he launched it, as his arm was no longer blazing.
"Thank you Nero," Amity said before levelling a cold glare at her siblings. Nero did the same, but with far more anger at what they attempted to do. Out from the corner of his eye, he saw Luz attempt a glare, but it too non-threatening to take seriously.
"Uh, Mitt-I mean, Amity," Edric corrected himself, "We're really sorry. We didn't mean-"
"Save it, Edric," Amity snarled, "You want to make it up to me?" she then weaved a spell circle, summoning an Abomination that brought forth some brooms and dust pans, "Start by helping me clean your mess up."
The twins groaned while Luz eagerly took a set of the cleaning tools. Nero also took some and got to work helping out. He figured they needed all the help they could get. Plus, the sooner this was done, the sooner he could leave before his mom waked up and by extension, preferably never interact with the twins again. By the time they were close to finishing, it was roughly 7:00 in the morning, meaning Nero had just a couple hours before when Mom normally waked up on weekends.
"So, Otabin aside, I think that was a fun night out," Emira casually said, making Nero's blood boil, as she and Edric put the books back just after Nero finished standing the shelf back up, "You okay Nero? You've been glaring more than Mittens has the entire night."
"You know exactly why that is, Blight," Nero growled out.
"Okay, but we apologized to Mittens about the whole Otabin thing and-" Edric started, but Nero snapped to him.
"That's not what I'm pissed off about you damned moron!" he snarled, causing the twins to back away a bit, "What the hell were you two thinking when you thought about spreading your sister's diary all over the place?"
"We just wanted to teach her to stop being such a killjoy and learn to lighten up. We already told you this earlier," Emira crossed her arms and looked away.
"Sounds to me more like you did it for yourself," Nero grunted before he went back to putting the scattered books up, "You just wanted to send her a message."
"What message?" Edric asked, sounding genuinely confused. Nero just attributed that to obliviousness.
"That you'd humiliate her if she didn't stop butting into your 'fun'. Tch, some older siblings you are," Nero said as he finished putting all the books back. He didn't really care if they were disorganized or not since he wanted to get out of here and away from the twins as soon as he could.
"No," Emira fired back defensively, but her voice began to waver, like even she wasn't buying the bullshit she was spewing, "W-we were just trying to-"
"Save it, Blight," Nero shut her up as he finished and started walking away, "I'm done here. Next time you see me, kindly fuck off."
He didn't get far before he felt a hand grab his shoulder to try and stop him, "Wait, Nero. Please just...just let me explai-"
Nero didn't let Emira finish and shoved her hand off. Part of him had to restrain the urge to just punch her and Edric in the face, but he couldn't bring himself to even face them right now. Instead, he kept walking, half-heartedly waving at Luz and Amity as they continued cleaning their end of the library. He walked out the front doors, blocking the morning sun with his hand, and headed the quickest route home.