LSRO: Chapter 339 - Not Exactly (Patreon)

Sooo look at that! Another chapter? Right?

Anyhu! This one took me a bit. You now how I am at the beginning of a new book. I tend to get in my own head and take a little while to properly find my footing.

But I think I'm where I want to be.

Summer is over in 2 weeks. I'll actually have solid time chunks I can devote to writing instead of juggling the kid along with my injury and squeezing in writing wherever I can.

Anyhu - hope you enjoy!

~~

Chapter 2

Not Exactly

Quinn blinked, then shook her head, momentarily forgetting that her whole body still ached. The Library watched her expectantly. Obviously, she hadn’t misheard then.

“Say what?” She cringed at the sound of the words, unable to vocalize exactly what she wanted to say.

Drevicia cocked its head to one side. “You’re now integrated as part of the actual Library system, but still maintain your Librarian role.” 

“I’m stuck here?” Quinn asked, barely speaking above a whisper as a shiver passed down her spine.

“What in the universe gave you that idea?” The Library sounded scandalized. 

“You can’t leave.”

“Oh.” Drevicia frowned. “That was a misconception. I couldn’t leave because I’d locked part of myself into a vault. And couldn’t remember I’d done that. My dragon body is stuck here, so I can’t transform. But that’s my body. This miniscule variant of myself... that should always have been able to depart. But thanks to my brother...” The Library shook its head. “Discovering the memory loss and starting the restoration process was the best thing we could have done.”

“How am I hooked in though? Wasn’t I already?” Quinn didn’t quite know what to make of the revelation. In fact, she didn’t understand it at all. “Does that mean I’ll never gain a dragon form?” A sense of melancholy washed over her, a sadness at perhaps not having something she didn’t even realize she’d wanted.

“No! Perhaps I phrased that incorrectly. Basically. Just in case my brother has something else up his sleeve, this would enable you to take full control. It means I no longer have sole-function capabilities. There’s no way for me to alter anything without you signing off on it.”

“But I thought that’s what the Librarian was for.”

“Yes, technically. There are failsafes built into the Library. We didn’t want me to be able to just decide arbitrarily on rules for the Library. However...” Drevicia paused for a second as if thinking over something in detail. “The bulk of the magic comes from my giving up my native form and confining myself largely to the Library. That fact lends me a certain amount of control that I could break if I so chose... at great personal cost. The Librarian has been in place so that it’s more of a considered approach. To keep me grounded. To give me counsel.”

“What would happen if you chose to separate yourself, or to shut down the whole thing?” 

The Library hesitated before answering cautiously. “I don’t know, seeing that I’ve never done it. But if my calculations are correct... it would destabilize the universe, and we’d all be devoured by chaos.”

“Which your brother knew?”

Drevicia nodded. “Which my brother knew.”

Quinn mulled that over, not liking the connotations. Dravishk set up this whole trapdoor scheme in order to tempt the Library into giving up on its plan to save the universe and hopefully destroy his sibling and the mana filtration system keeping chaos energy at bay... at the same time. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to concentrate. Aches still flooded her body, even with that slight movement. Knowledge she didn’t quite understand flooded her mind. Sensations began to creep in where before she’d sensed nothing. “Basically you synchronized with me fully?”

“Yes, we’ll need to refine it once Ashiron is fully functional and booted back up. But the golems should have it ready in no time, and there’s relatively little to do now. You should feel the difference...”

Quinn closed her eyes for several seconds, searching. She did feel a different, something deeper, more robust. The connection was there, but not as she’d imagined. “You just tied me to you through a... familial bond?”

Drevicia nodded. “Thus, you have almost as much access to the Library as I do. The system will adjust to your mental cues more easily and allow you to make changes that would have had to go through me before. Overall, it should make it easier to reintegrate that part of myself that my brother attempted to corrupt. Theoretically.” The Library sighed with relief. 

“Why did it hurt so much?” Quinn asked.

“The bond pulled on your cosmicisodracus genetic makeup in order to complete binding you to the system. You have to realize the bond you had as Librarian never finalized properly because we were at such minimal power when you arrived. Thus... as we’ve continued strengthening pillars and revitalizing the energy output, we’ve had to synchronize a lot more than usual. And your genetics give you a tie no other Librarian has had, anyway.”

Quinn frowned. “You should have asked me first.”

The Library blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I’m tied to the Library now. That limits my freedom. I’m not you. I didn’t choose to sacrifice my life to become part of this. You just threw me in here. Being a Librarian is one thing, but you should have given me this choice as well instead of kidnapping me after I fixed the damned pillar, and hurting me through a process of synchronization I didn’t agree to yet.” Quinn could feel anger bubbling under the surface. Now, not once, but twice, the people she’d had to entrust her life to had kept something important from her.

Not like she could have had a choice in Milaro’s case, but this time... well, she should have been given the option.

Drevicia’s mouth opened and closed several times before finally speaking. “I didn’t think of it like that. I’m sorry.”

Quinn waited, crossing her arms and tamping down her anger. She raised an eyebrow, wanting more reasoning than she’d been given.

“It was the one thing I could think of to stabilize myself, and the Library before any attacks got through... before I unknowingly sabotaged things myself. It... You helped ground me.” The plaintive tone didn’t help.

“We’ll talk about boundaries after we’re out of this mess. You haven’t explained anything. Why are the missing restricted books down here? Why did you have to essentially kidnap me? Why didn’t you come and speak with Lynx and me about everything going on in your head? Surely you knew you could do this?” Quinn tried her best to keep her voice even, but was fairly certain she lost the battle. 

Drevicia blinked. “At the time, it made more sense to keep the realization to myself. I needed to understand it better. To figure out a way around it.”

Quinn frowned, reaching out with her mind to search for what the deepened connection could mean for her, while she contemplated the information. It made sense that the Library, after having been responsible for everything for so long, might actually withdraw into itself to solve a problem instead of reaching out and asking for help. After all, Korradine had technically been help and had started the whole memory wiping fiasco that landed them all in this spot.

A sound permeated her thoughts as she continued to scan the connection and the Library. Quinn frowned and tried to dig deeper in order to figure it out. She compartmentalized finding it and looked back up at the Library. “Can you hear that?”

“Hear what?” The Library frowned, obviously also deep diving.

But Quinn’s consciousness hadn’t given up and the clarity of the situation hit Quinn like a million bricks dropping on her psyche. “Damn it. That’s an alarm. Did you set that off when you took me?”

Drevicia shook her head, a mild expression of fleeting panic crossing her features. Her very real, not just shadow features. Quinn still wasn’t entirely certain how that had happened, but right now she didn’t sense any deception, and with their connection as close as it was now, she knew she’d feel it if the Library was trying to pull one over on her. Trusting in her own instincts if not those of others, she pushed her irritation and anger aside to be dealt with later, and concentrated on the current problem.

Which seemed to be an imminent threat. 

“Is that... are we under attack?” She wasn’t entirely sure how she could tell that. Just that the wards and shields that surrounded the entire pocket dimension seemed to be straining to contain a power she couldn’t identify.

The Library shook its head. “Not exactly.”

“Then what exactly?” Quinn’s impatience wasn’t something she pushed down. She had to let herself have some leeway.

“It seems my brother truly believes he created a trapdoor through me. Not that he separated a sliver of my psyche.”

“Aren’t they the same thing?” Quinn raised an eyebrow.

“Not even close. A trapdoor through me meant he would have power over me, and through me be able to reach into the Library and control it... or loosen control as it were. But separating a sliver of my psyche seems to have saved us from that injustice. Doesn’t mean he’s not currently desperately attempting to break through my mental defenses.” Drevicia grimaced, and Quinn was fairly certain she could see beads of sweat on the Library’s forehead.

Quinn stood up, forcing herself to move. Gravity, it seemed, wasn’t being kind to the aches and pains in her body. Finally standing, she realized she was a few inches taller than she had been, and she wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that. “Did you push my cosmicisodracus evolution through as well?” She asked incredulously.

The Library cringed. “Not fully. Just gave it a push. I needed to for the connection.”

“Add that to the list of talk about once we’re not getting sieged.” Quinn mumbled, cracking her neck from side to side and trying to limber up her muscles. She could feel the extended power now she was standing. Every single vein felt like fire flowed through it. Not in a burning way, but a pleasant buzz, like her power was just sitting at her fingertips. It spread out, lending her a strength she’d only ever imagined.

Her scales ran all the way up her arms, and the rest of her body, but she could see the glimmer of gold if she looked down at her hands now, the blue sheen less prevalent this time. The library felt even more like an extension of herself. She flexed her fingers, making a fist in front of her face, staring briefly in fascination.

“When this is done, we’re returning the books, restoring the restricted section, and getting the damned Library back to where it should be. And you,” She paused to give Drevicia a very pointed look. “aren’t going to do anything ever again without asking me first.”

Quinn could practically feel the Library exerting self-control not to say it couldn’t do anything without asking her again, and was grateful that it didn’t say anything at all. Instead, it gave a nod, and Quinn focused on getting them upstairs.

She frowned when she couldn’t sense the stairs or anything else around them. “Did you change the configuration of your vault?”

“Oh, yes.” The Library sounded embarrassed. 

Before it could do anything though, something rattled the entire area, obviously emanating from above. The floor shook, the books rattled on their shelves, and Quinn’s anger grew. Not at the Library this time, but at those who would seek to overrun and devour the rest of the universe on the off chance that they were some of the fittest and would survive.

“That’s it!” She said.

With that, Quinn warped herself through to the main lobby and straight into pandemonium.

~~

Little bit of anger, little bit of what the fuck, and a dash of here we go again.

Much love

KT