"Did you not call this a glorious expedition? And wherefore was it glorious? Not because the way was smooth and placid as a southern sea, but because it was full of dangers and terror, because at every new incident your fortitude was to be called forth and your courage exhibited, because danger and death surrounded it, and these you were to brave and overcome. For this it was a glorious, for this was it an honorable undertaking…"
The heavens had opened up four hours previous, inundating the ancient gothic structure with buckets upon barrels of rain. It was a slow day in the Sanctuary, a rare occurrence given the nature of the work done there. Nevertheless, Helen Magnus always found a way to make the best use of her time.
The colossal library she had spent years accumulating needed some spring cleaning. Well, it was more like spring organizing, as Helen wouldn't dare to actually get rid of any of her books. Her trusty assistant, on the other hand, was more befuddled as to why she had kept some of the titles in her overcrowded collection as long as she had.
"The Mythology of the Dragonfly?" Will stated quizzically to Magnus from behind an ever-growing wall of books, turning over a three inch thick volume in his hand, "I had no idea there this many myths involving dragonflies in existence."
He paused and leaned back against a dusty shelf to peer around the teetering tower blocking Magnus from view.
"You'll find that there's a lot more mythology regarding seemingly commonplace items than one would suppose. But dragonflies are actually quite interesting. In Western culture, they were most often viewed as sinister and evil, but in Japan they are symbols of courage and strength, even happiness…"
"Magnus?"
"Yes?"
"Can I…?"
"No."
"Really?"
"No," Magnus repeated adamantly, not even glancing up from the deep purple volume she remained invested in, "Wait…I mean, yes. Yes to the really. No to the attempt to further weed down my collection."
Will gave a cheeky grin and Helen shook her head before breaking into a slight smile.
"Put it back on the shelf, Will."
"And I should because…"
"Because I'll fire you if you do anything to that edition. It happens to be a gift from a rather good friend."
"Wait let me guess—"
"You won't be able to guess."
"Oh, really?"
"Really."
Helen shut the purple book she had been holding with a soft and rather dusty thud and carefully stood up. With the rain pounding away, they had been in the library for hours, although their organizing often lapsed into the more engaging activity of reading about and discussing the vast array of colourful and fascinating topics disguised so neatly by leather covers and oak shelving. Helen tried not to topple any of the precarious piles which comprised their little maze of literature as she made her way to a library table.
"What about this? Traversable Wormholes: The Key to Time Travel?"
Helen turned, almost knocking over a rather high stack of what looked like encyclopedias older than time itself. She gracefully caught herself at the last minute.
"I have most definitely been looking for that one."
Will reached over the sea of books to hand it to her. Magnus took it eagerly and perched on the edge of the wooden table to flip through it. He watched her for a moment, but once it became clear that she wasn't going to discuss any of what she was skimming the book for with him, he gave up.
Turning back to the mess, he focused his attention on the nearly empty shelf from which the mess had come. A few books remained, scattered here and there. Of the ones left, most had fallen over once their supporting counterparts had been removed.
What caught Will's eye was a small book tucked back into a corner on the right side of the second-highest shelf. The edition was a deep, striking red, almost like the color of fresh blood. Will's curiosity was inexplicably spiked by this little object hidden away in a remote corner of the Sanctuary's library.
Noting that it was out of reach, Will dragged over the pile of encyclopedias, which looked thick and sturdy enough to support his weight. He glanced back to the table.
Magnus had apparently tuned out the world as she read. He noted that sometimes with her; although she was perpetually their fearless leader, she also often retreated into her mind when she focused on something. Will had many times walked into her office and sat for minutes on the edge of the plush sofa before she looked up from her work and noticed his presence.
Will climbed cautiously onto the pile, which was stable enough for him to stand on his toes and reach for the book. He clasped his fingers around the smooth leather cover and he began to remove his prize.
"Will?"
Now it was his turn to be awoken from a stupor. Magnus' voice startled him and he instinctually jerked at the sound. As he turned quickly towards her, his foot slipped off the edge of the top encyclopedia and he plummeted towards the hard floor tile floor strewn with more books.
The click of Helen's heels echoed through the hall as she dashed over the stacks to reach him.
"Will?" she repeated, "Are you alright?"
He had landed amidst paper and leather, so not much damage had been done.
"I'm fine," he assured her, slowly pushing himself into a sitting position, "I'm just going to have a few nasty bruises tomorrow."
"What in heaven's name were you doing?"
"I was trying to reach—"
He glanced around the space, as his motivation for climbing on top of ancient volumes had slid out of his clutch during his little accident. He found it a few feet away, beyond their haven of books, lying open on its spine.
"—to reach that nasty bugger," he explained.
Concluding that Will was just fine, Helen stood and leaped over another pile to get the small red book. She removed from the floor, closed it and ran her fingers over the cover, including the engraved title.
"Interesting choice, Will."
"What?"
Having finally gotten to his feet, Will joined Helen in the middle of the empty floor. He leaned behind her as she kneeled and read the cover over her shoulder.
"Ever read it?" she asked him, turning her face so she could see his.
"I think I did."
"You can't remember? Maybe I should take a look at your head…"
"No," he said, gently swatting away her hand, "I just mean that if I did I read it, it was probably in school and it may not have had my full attention."
"Ah," Helen smiled to herself, "Ashley didn't care very much for English literature either."
"My attention was more likely focused on—"
"The opposite gender," Helen finished for him, standing up with the book still shut in her hand and beginning to walk back to the table.
"What I was actually going to say was other subjects," Will stated, "But, you know, not like there's a big difference—"
"—Will—"
"—or anything like—"
"—Will!"
He stopped his retort and turned toward Magnus. She was frozen in the center of the floor, a few feet from him. The look of confusion on her face was a product of the soft grey mist slowly filtering out of the book, which was now open to a random page. It crept around Magnus like fog, but spread much quicker; in a few seconds it had occupied not only a few feet around her but was almost as tall as her waist. And it gave no indication that it would stop.
Will's first instinct was to reach Helen. This he tried, plunging into a murky sea as the mysterious element grew to engulf them both. As he pushed into the swirling mist, it began to crackle. He fumbled forward and found Helen's arm; her solidity and the soft black fabric between his fingertips assured him that it was her.
The crackles grew into snaps as well, building into a fire around them. Sparks jumped from the burning cloud to them and from them to the burning cloud, until the light show finally climaxed. As quickly as the two had been engulfed, the fog dissipated, leaving library silent, with nothing but a small, slightly singed red book dropping out of thin air to the shiny tiles below.
A/N: First Sanctuary fic! I'm not 100% sure where this is headed, although I do know where the two have literally gone and I have a vision (in progress) for this. Think of this story of half Lost in Austen, half Wizard of Oz, with the tone of the show and all our favorite Sanctuary characters in classic piece of Romantic/Gothic literature. And sorry, for I feel like as far as word choice and fluency and overall effectiveness of writing, this isn't my best piece of work. Still, feedback is appreciated and helpful!