LSRO: Chapter 342 - Confusion (Patreon)

At this stage I've lost track of all the chapter names. I'm quite certain I'm doubling up on some of these. Tripling even. I know for a fact I've used Off Kilter at least twice.

But come on... 342 chapters...

Anyhu - I'm liking this one. Hope you do too.

~~

Chapter 5

Confusion

Uncle Hal’s presence alone brought a calmness to Quinn. But it was the uncertainty tinged with fear settling on Dro’s face that gave Quinn a feeling of satisfaction. 

The other cosmicisodracus backed up a couple of steps, her face pinching in confusion. Her gaze swept from Drevicia to Quinn, then from Hal to her other siblings. “How are you...?” But she couldn’t seem to form the rest of that question.

Drevicia, for its part, only gave a sad smile. “I’m whole again. No more trapdoor.”

Dro blanched. “You can’t mean that...He was sure...”

This time the look the Library gave its sibling was positively predatory. “Guess who got it wrong?” Drevicia practically purred, but didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, the Library caught Hal’s eye and gave a nod. “Just try not to damage any of the books, okay?”

Hal laughed. There was a veritable glow around him for some reason. A freedom and happiness Quinn hadn’t witnessed emanating from him before. He clapped his hands together, and the creatures Quinn couldn’t get a good visual on inside of her shielding promptly disappeared. She could feel the swoosh of power as it exited the Library and knew immediately with a certain clarity that Hal had whisked them away to his own fortified cells. 

It also confirmed her expectations of what she’d be able to do once she reached full power and understood all the affinities at her disposal.

“Now.” Uncle Hal brushed his hands off and focused on Dro. “Do you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?”

Dro visibly gulped, and didn’t respond. 

Quin could practically hear her thinking. Essentially, three and a half cosmicisodracus ready to fight her, ready to protect the Library and therefore the Universe, plus Uncle Hal were likely not what she was expecting to face when she’d arrived. Not to mention Malakai, Aradie, Milaro, and Lynx being there. It was army-like. There to defend their knowledge depository.

Even so, Dro’s gaze hardened, and Quinn felt more than heard the growl that emerged from her throat. It rolled through the hall, cracking the floor, separating some of the stone. If they’d have been anyone else, Quinn was marginally certain it would have ripped through any other beings.

Bracing herself, Quinn directed the body of the Library to repair itself, to contain the angry growl and strip the power away from it to keep as its own. Drevicia shot Quinn an approving smile. Apparently, they’d both thought of that solution.

When the action didn’t bring any results, waves of frustration rolled out from Dro. “You can’t do this.” 

Quinn could tell that she wanted to sound strong, but Dro’s voice wavered ever so slightly. It made Quinn wonder just how much thought had even been given to this whole debacle. “I think you’ll find that we very much can do this.” She said softly, not only watching for a reaction to perhaps find an advantage but also scanning her with the Library senses while Dro reacted.

Waves of tension rolled off her aunt. All of them slightly different hues. From embarrassment to panic, from frustration to outright hatred, and from hesitation through to fear. Something about the sensations gave off the idea of being thwarted. Of there having been a different predetermined outcome that no one Dro had spoken to even took into consideration. The results were so fascinating Quinn initially missed what was being said, and Drevicia’s laugh pulled her back to the present.

“The sheer gall you both have after all of this, to demand that I let you have your way, when you could just have not supported this endeavor initially.” The Library’s eyes flashed, the anger palpable, and not for the first time Quinn realized just how powerful the Library was as an entity. Only this time the power was a part of her too.

Quinn felt her chest constrict, and her veins flood with a mixture of fire, power, and energy. For a split second, this giddiness overwhelmed her almost completely. The sheer headiness of what the Library was, of the importance of its filtration and the amount of power the pocket dimension actually held.

“Instead,” The Library continued, stalking sure steps toward her wayward sister. “You decided to undermine me. To hope that your trap sprung on me at my most vulnerable moment, weakening me, and hopefully letting me be devoured first.” It spat the words out, coming to rest only a couple of feet in front of its sister as if demanding her to gainsay the obvious.

“Were you both so jealous of my power, of what I’d gained while I developed, that you wanted to drop me into chaos’ path first? Were you both so jealous, so desiring of your own power to pull you to the front of the pack that you conspired to do anything to stop the plan to preserve creation and instead chose to destroy life as we knew it?” The Library’s voice had practically dropped to a whisper, and Quinn watched in fascination, the thrum of power extending through to her own scales and core.

Dro had blanched, her face pale.

In the back of her mind, Quinn watched as the defenders continued to push back against the assailants at the doors. Now they methodically worked through each stasis chamber as it was brought forward to send the unwelcome guests back through. The alarms still sounded, but Quinn knew they were safe. Far from what Dro currently felt.

Dro stuttered, her gaze darting around between all her siblings, sparing only hatred for Hal, and disdain for the elves. Quinn wasn’t sure what she had for Aradie, but the Nightowl likely didn’t care. 

“No. We had it on good authority. He said he had a backup plan. You couldn’t possibly have discovered it. He said it didn’t even work out like he’d assumed it would.” She was grasping now, and Quinn could see her weaving defenses instead of choosing to attempt any offensive spells. 

Quinn was quite impressed. She’d thought this aunt simply a follower, someone who did what she was told blindly. It appeared, however, that she could at least recognize a desperate situation when she saw one.

The Library laughed. “I should thank you both. The backdoor he was expecting didn’t work the way any of you thought. And at first I was shocked, dismayed even.” It preened ever so slightly, a nasty grin settling on its face. “After all, it’s not every day your sibling manages to splinter off a part of your personality in the hopes that I’d self-sabotage.”

A slight hitch of a gasp emanated from Milaro and Malakai, but it seemed Dru, Driv, and Hal had already been aware. Dro’s face didn’t pale more though; instead, it scrunched up in confusion. “What? What do you mean?”

The confusion seemed genuine, which made it even more bewildering. Drevicia cocked its head to one side, a frown creasing its brows. Both the Library and Lynx’s eyes had gone into overdrive, and a weird sudden curiosity overcame Quinn. She wanted to know if her eyes did that too when she connected directly through the system now.

“Huh?” Drevicia finally said. “It seems you’re not just playing dumb.” It left the inference there, taunting Dro while it contemplated this new information.

The surrounding air was charged, and Quinn glanced at Hal. He appeared to be sulking, and he tapped his foot lightly, making no sound as he did so. She got the distinct impression he’d been raring for a fight. No matter what, at least he’d have some of the attackers back in his domain waiting for him to see to them.

Finally, the Library spoke again. “That isn’t information you need to know right now. And since you don’t know it, I need to understand something.”

Dro nodded, glancing around as if trying to find a way to escape. Surely she had to know that was impossible. With security still alerted, and the shields clamped down, not to mention with the Library, Lynx, and Quinn alerted and aware of every single movement within the entire pocket dimension, there was no way to escape without the security measures figuratively ripping Dro to shreds.

“What do you need me to tell you?” It was the first time Quinn had heard Dro speak meekly. Usually, she’d had so much arrogance Quinn couldn’t have made her way past without bumping into it.

Drevicia glanced back at Dru and Driv. They both nodded, and Quinn felt oddly left out of the cosmicisodracus circle. Even if she was aware of technically being billions of years their junior.

“Were you in on this from the very beginning? From when I first brought up the concept, the idea of creating a filtration system that would protect not only the universe but also us from ultimate extinction or undoing?” There was an earnestness to the Library’s words, as if everything else hung off these answers.

It occurred to Quinn right then that, with the argumentative portion of the Library hidden away, she’d never actually witnessed the entire personality of the Library. If this was it, Quinn was glad it was all back together again. This Library was stronger and determined.

Dro shook her head. “I was pretty ambivalent at the start. I didn’t really care about anything, if you’ll recall. Yet, I also didn’t want to die. I liked us being who we were, and I realized the threat of Chaos to us was quite real.” She shrugged uneasily. “Initially I thought your idea not only had merit, but could do a lot of good. If we focused all of that power and shared it out to the beings of the universe, then surely it would be okay, right?” She sounded somewhat lost and appeared to lessen in size as she spoke.

Quinn watched the scene play out, enraptured by the changes in her kin.

“Then why?” Drevicia’s voice was filled with a certain kind of pain. “Why did you end up going along with him?”

For several seconds, Dro’s struggle to come up with an answer was obvious. She opened her mouth multiple times, but then shook her head as if she’d not been able to think of an answer. She frowned, and then blinked. “He made so much sense...”

“When?” The Library pushed the question, and it was obviously an important one. 

Quinn could understand why. If this sister had been in on it all along, then it was the same betrayal as Dravishk’s, but if she hadn’t. If there’d been some sort of reason, some spark that her brother homed in on and exploited, then Drevicia might be lenient. Or more lenient. 

“Oh hmmm. Do you remember when the Areiltháhnish and the darigháhnish had that initial war way back? Like I think it was...”

“Six hundred and eighty-seven thousand years ago. Give or take a century or three...” Milaro spoke quietly, his voice somber.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” Dro nodded vigorously. “You allowed them both still entrance, refused to take a side, and yet threw anyone out who even started to bicker. It was bizarre.”

“Everyone deserves the right to have access to knowledge.” The Library said, sounding confused. “I refuse to take away that right, but I also demand my own right to forbid any type of fighting within my walls.”

Dro growled, but it wasn’t an attack; it was one of frustration. “That’s exactly it! You shouldn’t have let any of them in. The darigháhnish didn’t have as many to send!”

The Library blinked. “That’s hardly my fault. As it was easy, each side had at least one permanent person here. They abided by my rules, and they all ended up coming to an accord.”

“But not before millions of lives were lost...” Dro looked pained. “Lives of friends and loved ones.’

“Ah,” Drevicia finally looked like she understood. “Who did you lose?” It asked as gently as it could. Considering Quinn was quite certain the Library had never had any type of romantic dalliance, she thought it went about the matter as delicately as it knew how.

A brief flash of agony passed over Dro’s face, but she rallied. “Someone important.”

“I’m so sorry.” Drevicia said, “Truly. But you have to remember. It was never my place, never our place, to delve into politics. The information gathered here is meant to help everyone and anyone who needs it. I couldn’t give one side information and not let the other side have it. So I remained open to both.”

“I know that!” Dro practically screamed, but then her voice cracked and she heaved in a sob, as if trying to hide it. “And that’s when Drav spoke to me. He made what you did sound cruel, illogical, and totally against everything we’d meant the Library to be. He spoke to me when I was most vulnerable, and I just... got wrapped up in it.” Her eyes were filled with tears now as the dawning realization hit her.

Quinn wasn’t sure how she’d feel if someone convinced her that Mal’s death was orchestrated by someone who could have helped instead. She was quite certain she’d lose her grip.

The Library nodded. “A bad reaction, and yet an understandable reason. I wish you’d come to me. Talked to me. I always thought we got along well together. I can’t let you go. I hope you realize this.”

Dro nodded. All the fight seemed to have left her. “I understand.”

“We’ll create something secure and comfortable.” Quinn butted in, suddenly so angry at her uncle, and needing to make up for his behaviour. Interfering with two siblings when they were vulnerable just made him a monster.

“I’ll help.” Uncle Hal said cheerfully, “I didn’t get any action here after all. Got to do something with these muscles.” He flexed and gave a wink to everyone.

Quinn had to bite down on the urge to laugh, but definitely noticed the tension lift. For the first time in the last hectic while, she felt like there might be a solvable outcome to all of this. 

~~

Yay for Hal. For just being there.

And just for being Hal.

Much love

KT