LSRO: Chapter 329 - Manifestation (Patreon)

Hi there amazing people So we've been having super thunderstorm and potential tornado weather warnings for the last 24 hours which is always

Hi there amazing people

So we've been having super thunderstorm and potential tornado weather warnings for the last 24 hours which is always so much fun. My Sunny (my golden doodle) is always traumatized by the big storms. She just wants to cuddle. I had to edit the dictation for this chapter half balancing my laptop on her.

My corgi and mini dachshund don't give two craps about storms. Lol

Anyhu!

We are really getting down to the wire here. I think the book should be finished by 336? 337? Maybe.

We will see. BWAH HAH HAH

Enjoy

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Chapter 65

Manifestation

There were times, when Quinn had first come to the Library, that she didn’t quite trust or even understand Lynx. Now, if she was being honest with herself, he was acting highly suspicious, refusing to answer her questions or give her any inkling of why he needed to drag her out of the Library. The one thing she was fairly certain of was that he wasn’t leading her into an ambush.

Then again, what did she know about cosmic Library manifestations? Essentially nothing. So, at the moment, while she was quite certain she still trusted him, at least to a certain extent, she wasn’t entirely sure that she understood whatever he was trying to do. She’d just have to trust him enough to know that he believed whatever he was doing would be for the good of the Library.

Keeping him in her peripheral vision, she turned to the others and began to ask a barrage of questions. Most of them were directed at Nishpa, but surprisingly, not all of them were answered by her.

“So, how old is this city?” Quinn asked, looking around. It felt timeless in the way it appeared, but also the architecture, even though it resembled the Tudor styles of Europe, didn’t feel dated.

Nishpa chuckled. “Eons. I wasn’t alive when the city was built. My ancestors helped found it. The current emperor is my brother.”

Which sparked curiosity for Quinn. “He’s contracted for live to the position through this blood binding?”

“Yes, he was born into responsibility. He could have opted to marry out of it the line though. We all can. You can’t force a duty on a person who doesn’t want it or might abuse it. The magic won’t let that happen. He chose to take on a ruler’s mantle when he came of age and began to assist our father. We can’t force somebody to take that oath. But once you have taken the blood bond, then you are obligated to put the will and good of the Firionas Fae before yourself.” 

Quinn thought it was fascinating, and an idea struck her. “Wait... is it the same for the Esposians?”

Nishpa’s expression darkened. “I’d always assumed so. If it is, then I’m unsure as to how Adrito broke his bonds.”

“Glad to see your brother isn’t like that.” Quinn opted for a light tone.

Luckily, Nishpa laughed. “I think my brother’s been ruling for close to 500 years now. Just before the Library went into hiatus, I believe. And he’s really obligated to help the people. Well, everybody, anything that could affect our people, which is why I’m helping you in the Library.”

Quinn mulled that information over for a bit. She was still a little confused, though. “But not all Furionas are like this.”

“No, not all of them,” Malakai interjected. “The Treaty of Friesbein. That’s the city.” He added the last with a wink, obviously teasing.

Quinn glared at him, even if she was a bit grateful for the reminder of the city’s name. 

“Anyway,” he carried on, “there’s a treaty of Friesbein and the greater alliance of the universe that allows all people to reside here now.” 

“And that includes Halschius?” Quinn asked, still trying to wrap her head around its similarities to hell.

“Yes,” Malakai said. 

“Of course it includes us. The Fae are our cousins,” Eric snapped. “Why is it so hard to believe that we’d be welcome here?”

Quinn gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, still some of my old world belief systems that I’m finding difficult to shake.”

“Well, then shake harder,” Eric said. “We’re not inherently evil, you know, nor are we inherently mischievous. We just like a bit of fun.”

“And leveraging fines?” Quinn asked.

“Yes,” Eric said proudly. “And leveraging fines, which may I add, I am exceptionally talented at.”

Finally, after what felt like 10,000 steps through the town, up the massive staircase, and to the palace direct, they entered through the rightmost door, bypassing guards as they realized Nishpa was with them. 

‘For public access,’ it said above the door they used. Inside, there was a waiting line leading to a counter, where two slightly frazzled public servants leafed through inquiries. The room was opulent, and yet not in a way that screamed wealth or tried to show off how rich such a palace would have to be. 

Instead, there were tasteful paintings that lined the check-in area walls, obviously depicting moments in the city’s history. The walls themselves were warm-colored with a soft beige undertone, and comfortable, enduring furniture was scattered throughout the room, instead of the more ornate and mostly priceless furniture she’d seen in European castle tours that she’d watched on streaming services. Those looked like they cost too much to sit on, just in case it broke. But in here, she was fairly certain she could just flop down on one of the couches, and it would envelop her like a warm hug.

Instead of having to check in, Nishpa simply led them all past the desk, waving at one of the ladies who was manning it, and headed up another flight of stairs. If Quinn didn’t have to see another flight of stairs in her lifetime, she’d be... and that’s when she remembered she could have been hovering the whole damn time. Still, at least her legs got a workout.

Now, Quinn had to be fair, because since seeing the Library of Everywhere, which was majestic, imposing, and stuck in its own pocket dimension, her view of many of the things she’d loved had changed. One of those things was libraries. 

The Friesbein Library put in a valiant effort to look amazing. It had beautiful, soft-colored wooden pillars that rose up, supporting its two levels. The upper level, just like in the Library, was more like a balcony with a beautiful wrought-iron railing that went all around it, and bookshelves behind it lined the walls while some desks and chairs decorated the rest of the landings. 

Firionas Fae darted around the area, picking out books, gathering with friends. A slight murmur of discourse was audible throughout the entire area. It really was beautiful, and yet, completely underwhelming. Which felt sad in a way, because she’d always loved libraries before, and now she’d sort of been spoiled forever, especially when her own Library could conform to whatever she wanted it to do.

Once in the Library, Lynx finally spoke up. “Quinn and I will hunt down that book,” he said, his tone making it clear that he didn’t want anybody else to come with them. “I know Eric wanted to visit friends, and Malakai, they have some of the best healing books out there in this Library. Familial ones as well.”

Quinn frowned. Malakai raised an eyebrow, but otherwise nodded, turned around, and walked toward a set of shelves.

Nishpa smiled. “I’ll harass my brother and see if he wants to insist on you meeting him.”

Quinn asked, “Is he always busy?”

“Usually, but he can probably make time for his little sister.” And with that, she fluttered away.

Eric grumbled, “I do have a cousin who works here. Haven’t seen him for ages.” And the grumpy imp was gone.

Aradie, however, remained on Quinn’s shoulder, glaring defiantly at Lynx, whose shoulders finally slumped. “Fine, but this stays between us.”

Aradie sort of chortled. Lynx glared at her. “You will bind on an oath, that if you speak to others without my express permission to share the information, you will speak no more.”

Aradie’s slight laughter stopped, and the bird held Lynx’s gaze for several seconds before the owl finally nodded her dark head solemnly. Quinn felt something tingle through her mind and down her spine at the acceptance of what appeared to be a binding oath. It was as if something within the system, the universe, or however that worked, had recognized the words Aradie agreed to. And from all appearances, it took it quite seriously.

Lynx, continuing on in his completely infuriating refusal to say anything, led them through the Library. Aradie brushed Quinn’s ear as if to say, ‘what the?’ And Quinn shrugged, starting to get a bit worried about the manifestation now her irritation had fallen by the wayside.

He picked a book off a shelf and walked to the very back corner of the Library where nobody was around and motioned for everybody to sit down. He slammed the book down on the table before he sat down. “So we don’t forget what we came here for in the first place.” And then a shield sprang into being around them. It felt like she just put noise cancelling headphones on all of them.

Quinn resisted the urge to drum her fingertips on the desk and waited. Lynx grimaced. “There, no one should be able to penetrate that shield.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t really need me to come and get this book at all, did you?” She tapped it, noticing that it was literally a generic book on flutes for beginners.

Lynx shook his head. “No, I didn’t really, but it’ll be easier if you get it out of this library. You can just talk to your counterpart here. This seemed like the most plausible reason that you and others would believe in, for us to leave the Library.”

Quinn frowned, not liking the implications. “Well, we’re here now, so are you going to tell me what has you so worried? Why you’ve been acting so weird lately?”

Lynx sighed. The runes in his hair stuttered through several cycles, and his eyes glowed slightly. He fidgeted, flipped through the book, closed it again, and finally looked up and made eye contact with Quinn, obviously coming to a decision. “You know when you’re told that you are one thing and you believe it, but then things keep happening so much that you end up questioning it?”

Quinn shook her head, but then really thought about it and sort of shrug-nodded. “I guess, sort of. It took me a while to catch on to this whole Librarian thing and believe it and then the dragon thing, so I guess I do understand. Can’t you just say what’s bothering you?”

Lynx looked like he really wanted to and then finally he spoke. “My most recent recollection of memories sparked a line of thought I hadn’t been expecting.”

Quinn wisely remained silent, hoping he’d actually get it all out this time. 

“The more I reunited with my memories, the more I realised how much damage was done to me overall. The thing is, a lot of it isn’t even what we thought.”

There was a natural pause in his speaking, so Quinn asked, “What do you mean?”

It still looked like Lynx was struggling to find the words he wanted to explain whatever was on his mind. Quinn was really starting to get worried. “Look, if it’s too hard to let me know...”

“I’ve got to do this,” Lynx said. “You have to know.”

Quinn nodded, wanting to understand, to help. “The thing is,” he said, “I distinctly have these memories of coming into being after the Library tried dozens and dozens of manifestations. And I know that I can be incorporeal or solid in the Library, depending on how much power I pull from it. And I know I’m a manifestation of the Library. But when you arrived, and for 500 years before that, I was so positive that the only way for me to do anything was to be attached to the Library because I was a part of the Library.”

So many things started running around screaming in Quinn’s mind, but she soldiered on listening to her friend. 

“Except now I’ve had these memories retrieved that I know are me. They clicked. And I remember that I’m actually, Quinn. I’m actually my own person.”

She’d already thought that Lynx was extremely individual, so the revelation didn’t click right for her. “I don’t think I’m understanding the significance here. You’ve always been you.”

“Yes, I’ve always been me. But I always believed, or I thought I always believed that I was me in conjunction with the Library and without the Library as it is, I could not and did not exist.”

Quinn wrapped her head around that. To be honest, she’d assumed the same thing. “Are you telling me that’s not the case?”

“Yes, I’m telling you that I am of the Library, but I’m my own entity. I don’t, I don’t have to stay with the Library if I don’t want to. I’m not saying I don’t want to, but I’m saying that I don’t just think Korradine was the only one digging around in my head and pulling memories. Why on earth would she not want me to know that I could leave if I wanted to?”

~~

DUN DUN DUUUUUUN

Much love

KT