LSRO: Chapter 340 - Dissonance (Patreon)

Welllllll I have another chapter.

So... the surgery I got that was supposed to fix the nerves in my hand and did not, was an elbow surgery for a nerve decompression.

Not only is the hand not better, but my elbow is super sensitive now, often aches where it didn't before and the scar is ridiculously tender.

Today was a bad arm day.

But I'm still happy with the chapter haha! I win!

Here we go - keep in mind this all takes place inside of ten minutes LOL

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Chapter 3

Dissonance

The dissonance was obvious as soon in the front section of the Library. Milaro stood at the main entrance double doors, a ways in front of the check-in desk. Pale golden magic surrounded him in soft waves, belying his actions as the opponents in front of him writhed and squirmed to get away from it.

Geneva led a group of golems down past the main section to where a corridor of doors existed.

Quinn stood at her office door, blinking in the aftermath of her warp jump, taking in the whole scene in front of her. She catalogued the patrons, herded into the center, sitting around on chairs or the floor. Some of their faces were flushed with worry, others appeared irritated, while more seemed ready to jump in and defend the employees if their auras were anything to go by.

For her part, Quinn reached out to connect with the Library in order to sense the precise locations she could be useful. However, after the forced synchronization performed by Drevicia, it appeared she no longer had to connect. Instead, it was simply an extension of herself now. 

Seamless. 

Smooth.

All she had to do was focus, and she knew instantly where every single door was, who and where it had been opened from or to, how many people had passed through or were about to enter, not to mention being aware of anyone else in the vicinity. Her mind churned through the information so fast it almost gave her a head spin. 

Surprisingly, only about a dozen appeared to have intruders at them, and they were easily being kept at bay by Library employees, and security and other golems. For now, it appeared they were mostly covered.

It was the doors that appeared to be jammed that were the problem. Way back when they’d implemented the security measures after Tenejo and his ilk had entered the Library even with nefarious intentions, they’d made it possible for the Library’s scans to reach a deeper level than initial once, scanning for information which could lead to preventing an attack.

The doors weren’t jammed. They’d simply been shifted to a temporary dimensional holding space until it could be determined just how bad these people were. Or, that’s what she thought was happening from the information the system poured directly into her brain. 

For now, they’d be fine to remain where they were, which allowed Quinn to shift her attention to the other information flooding her. She couldn’t sense Dravishk or Dro, not even an unfamiliar familial bond had come into contact with the Library’s senses. Drivok and Drukala were in here, helping the rest of the golems, patrons, and staff fend off the attackers. But her other errant uncle and aunt? Nowhere to be felt.

She frowned, deepening the scan, but to no avail.

Aradie squawked loudly, coming in at a dive to rest on Quinn’s shoulder. The worry in her tone, in the enquiry from her mind, all served to remind Quinn that she’d basically been kidnapped and her friends had probably had no idea where she’d been. For all they knew, she’d been sucked into some plan by Dravishk.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” she said to the distraught owl, petting her feathers soothingly as she continued to scan the area. There were some fluctuations in the doors being detained, but other than that... it seemed everything was under control. Comparitively, anyway. 

Where did you go? I couldn’t reach you. Couldn’t even feel the bond. Aradie’s voice wasn’t quite frantic, but the worry was still there full force.

I’ll explain it when we’re not under attack, okay.

Fair. I’ll hold you to that.

The conversation finished just in time for a familiar warm hand to settle on her shoulder. Malakai was suddenly by her side, his aura also full of concern. “What happened?”

“Tell you later. Blew my mind a bit, to be honest. But in the grand scheme of things, I guess it means I have more power now.” She shrugged, assessing. Not more than a minute had passed since she warped up, and she was still determining where she needed to be. “Misha.” She called, knowing how much they’d be relying on golems right now.

Misha appeared, much like they had when they were initially created. “What do you need?”

Quinn grinned. The golem couldn’t ever be called tactful, but right now they didn’t need that, anyway. “How are we going with security golems?”

Misha cocked their head to one side as if considering the words deeply. “The initial eight are occupied. I have one each of the extra golems created for each branch on standby for anything, while the other branch security golems are in charge of their immediate areas.”

“Excellent.” Quinn hadn’t checked the commands given, just guessed along the lines. She’d not yet had enough time to amalgamate the system into her way of thought properly. That’d take a bit of getting used to, but now Misha had mentioned it, she could see the numbers clearly as well as the delegations. 

“Is that all, Librarian?” 

“For now,” Quinn flashed the supervisory golem a smile.

Misha nodded and warped out of sight.

At least now Quinn understood how the golem did that. 

“What’s the status?” She asked both Aradie and Malakai.

Her owl preened, while Malakai gave her a tight smile. “Grandfather has the doors under lockdown. No one can push in. The alert has settled so that no one else can currently enable a door into the Library. They are getting a pop-up message, which will enable them to understand that the Library is in a state of temporary shutdown to contain a threat.”

“Is that wise?” Quinn began to move from where she’d been standing, approaching the desk and the console. Not only did it give her access she was better at dealing with, but it also gave her a better overview of the main floor of the Library considering it was slightly raised like a dais. She catalogued Milaro, who nodded in her direction, only briefly looking at her. Perhaps he was making sure it really was her.

Quinn was certain she’d be answering five thousand questions once everything had settled. If they could get everything to settle. 

A rumble thrummed through to her from below, and she felt a hint of panic enter her. “The doors don’t open into the chamber, right?” She asked, rhetorical though it might be considering that as soon as she asked it she knew the answer.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Malakai said, standing to her side on high alert.

The thrumming reverberated through to her once more, and it took a split second, but she realized it had nothing to do with anyone breaking into the chamber. No... it was solely to do with her strengthened connection to the Library. The filtration chamber offered up its abundant power, somehow knowing it was exactly what Quinn needed right there. She could feel the power within her amplify, her own shields barely holding her newly awakened powers in place as it was.

Quinn struggled with the added power, but knew if she could get a handle on it her ability to defend the place she’d come to call home would be magnified.

“Quinn?” Mal asked, a slight note of alarm in his voice.

She opened one eye and peeked out at him, only to realize a soft blue and golden light emanated from her whole body. The scales on her skin felt more solid, less translucent. Strength flooded her body, and magic danced along her veins. Her fingertips sharpened until they resembled claws, and yet she felt no pain. 

“Whoa...” Mal let out a low whistle.

Aradie cood, her anticipation palpable. 

Quinn nodded, her mind flexing in this newfound strength and her eagerness to use the power practically overwhelming her common sense. It took several seconds for her to get a handle on herself, and she reached out with newly extended and magnified perception. 

There were three doors being defended on the lower levels, right near Carafax’s semi-permanent abode. Two security golems and several staff were holding five people at bay. No... four, one of them had just been rendered unconscious. 

Two more down the hall to the Armory, another three in the advanced magic section, and four more close to the restricted section’s hallway. The main door was currently barricaded by Milaro.

But something else pushed against Quinn’s awareness. They held the doors in limbo. At least two dozen more were frozen in place while the system evaluated the auras, emotions, and intent of those people seeking to get through. If she closed her eyes and pushed her concentration even farther, she could see there were at least four people in general inside every one of those... and some of them contained five people.

She frowned. They wouldn’t be able to fend off over a hundred people should the Library’s systems decide to clear those in limbo. But, as the Library Librarian or whatever the heck she was now, it was quite easy to direct the system to restrain the people inside those doors until she allowed them entrance.

“How are we holding up?” Malakai asked, his eyes never focusing on her, but on all the potential disturbances that could waylay her.

Quinn shrugged. “As long as we don’t allow all the doors entry at once when we’ve finished with the current intruders, then it should be okay.”

“Maybe let them enter through a bottleneck - only a few doors at a time?” Malakai half asked.

“Sounds like a plan...” Quinn felt a strange static reaching toward her before it died down, leaving her confused.

“I like your new and improved armor, and... what sounds like a plan?” Milaro stood on the other side of the check-in desk. His eyes were filled with a fire Quinn had never seen before. He seemed elated... alive.

“Only opening a few doors up at a time once we’ve contained what we have.” Another wave of something fought at her concentration, as if threatening to loosen her control. She couldn’t let that happen. She wouldn’t let that happen.

“I agree. It sounds like a solid plan and is proof Malakai actually listens to me on occasion.” Milaro threw his grandson a smile to soften the blow, but only got rolled eyes in return. “My door is sealed. They won’t be going anywhere for a good long while.”

There was a hint of anger and finality in Milaro’s words. So much that it sent a shiver down her spine. She was glad to have him on her side.

Quinn went to speak, but a wave of mana rushed through her, practically punching her in the gut. She stumbled, leaning against the counter to steady herself and see if she could figure out where those attacks were coming from.

“Quinn?” This time Milaro sounded concerned. He gently gripped her elbow, letting a flow of strength hit her.

“I don’t know, it’s like my equilibrium is off, although that’s being expected after the stunt the Library pulled...” She bit back on the anger threatening to swell up.

“What stunt did...”

As convulsions hit Quinn ever so briefly, Milaro stopped his question, turning all his concern in her direction.

A sensation came over her, so surreal, like she was floating high above the Library in their little pocket dimension, watching everything from above. The Library appeared more like blueprints, with dots representing people. Down close to Harish’s observation room she could feel a pulse of power that hurt.

It dug right into her brain, clawing at her, but couldn’t get past her defenses. She pushed more power into them and sent out her very own pulse when the next one attempted to hit her. 

“What’s going on?” Milaro asked softly.

“I think we have a door about to breach. There’s so much more power in this one, the limbo doesn’t seem to be affecting it like it should.” But upon checking all the others over, it at least appeared to be the only one to experience such a disturbance. And then she asked she seriously didn’t want to voice. “That’s probably where they are... isn’t it?”

Milaro nodded slowly, and Malakai gripped his sword tighter. Quinn sensed Drivok and Drukala making their way over toward that room, which just cemented information she already knew was true. Leaping over the counter, she landed softly, her scales gleaming in the soft light streaming inside.

“I can’t hold it,” she said when she caught up to her relatives.

“Where is... the Library?” Drukala asked, her own scales flaring out in a way that made Quinn wonder if she’d transform.

“We can’t transform in here. The dimensional magic of the Library prevents that.” Drivok said absently as he watched the door in front of them pulsing with a strange green light.

Quinn understood immediately. “Oh! You can’t become a dragon within a dragon!”

Drukala flashed her a brief smile. “Precisely. Now...”

But that’s all she got to say. In front of them, in a puff of green light, the door disintegrated. Quinn reached through to her connection, immediately tamping down on the power coming into the Library, targeting the occupants of the room specifically. Yet another failsafe... but one she wasn’t sure would work.

But it wasn’t who she expected.

“Well, well... I guess I officially meet the new addition to our little family.” Dro stood there, her hands on her hips and a nasty smile on her face. Green liquid dripped from her fingernails. 

A pit of dread swelled in Quinn’s gut.

~~

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN

I'll tell you a secret: I wrote Dro, because I've momentarily forgotten what Dro's full name is... oops

Much love

KT