Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing. If I did... literally nothing clever comes to mind.
Enjoy the story!
"So. This Sphere of Truth. It's exactly as straightforward as it sounds, right?" Baird looked toward Jenkins with her 'bored yet curious' expression resting lightly on her features. Yet even despite that indifferent expression, her back was rigid and arms crossed with one finger drumming silently on her forearm.
"I would assume so, yes. We haven't exactly encountered this particular artifact before, so I can't say for certain. However," Jenkins lifted a thin, brown book that looked like someone's old journal, "according to this, "The one who holds the artifact will have bestowed upon themselves an inclination of heart and readily honest mind deftly prepared to rid itself of any mistruths for those of whom seek his or her purity of heart."
He placed the book back down on the table as Ezekiel raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "That's basically saying that the person holding the thing can't lie, right?"
"Not only that, but they will almost be... forced to speak or act upon the truth. Anything that they've said in the past that have been lies, or any half-truths, will be amended. I suggest not having Mr. Jones hold it for fear of what he might reveal."
The quick, nearly nonexistent, smirk on Jenkins' face could have easily been missed, but Baird's trained eye caught it the moment appeared. She hid a smile of her own. Despite their constant banter, Ezekiel and Jenkins had a paternal relationship that was one of a kind.
Ezekiel frowned. "What's that supposed to mean, mate?"
Cassandra moved in swiftly, floral skirt trailing in behind her like a gentle breeze had cocooned itself around her. "Soooo," she began in an attempt to quell any possible confrontations. She bounced on her toes and clapped her hands together, "do we know where it is right now? The clipping shows New York, but is there any way to know if it's been transferred somewhere else somehow?"
Jake gave a noncommittal shrug. "We could talk to the people that had it. Y'know. See how they passed it around. This latest guy," he pointed to a monochromatic man that looked less than happy to be photographed. Understandable. After all, he had just told his wife that he'd been cheating on her with one Betty McCarthy for five years. "We should try 'n start with him. I'd bet he knows where it is."
"As if he'd be willing to talk."
"Oh, oh! I've got it. We can just tell him that it was a stolen artifact from some fancy museum in Italy! As simple as algebra." Cassandra smiled. "You know. Because algebra is... nevermind."
"Okay, librarians. Now that we've got a plan, let's go take a visit to New York. Again."
The front door became shrouded in an overwhelming glow of light before Ezekiel pushed it open and stepped confidently through. Cassandra and Jake followed soon after.
Baird held back a moment to smile at Jenkins. "Wish us luck." She then stepped through as he looked up to shoot her a thin-lipped smile.
Her vision was washed out in blinding light before she was thrust forward onto a sidewalk. Jake was suddenly there, ready to catch her in case she needed any support, but she brushed him off. "Alright." She looked at three people surrounding her. "Let's see if we can get more information on this... Sphere of Truth from Jeremy Abbot. I'm sure we will be convincing enough to get some info from this guy." She smirked.
"Sounds great. Where's Jeremy?" Ezekiel looked toward Baird.
She turned slowly to look at Ezekiel with a "how stupid are you?" expression. "Where do you think, oh, Wise One?"
He turned around to see that they had stepped through a door attached to someone's shed. He whipped around to his left to look at the archetypal example of a suburban home. "Right. This is it."
The building looked to be approximately two stories tall, painted a pristine white over wood. A gray van was parked outside the garage door, various stickers littering the back window. Each symbolized different teams that Jeremy's kids were involved in -two kids, Baird notes. Both are girls: Kelly and Hannah. Gymnastics and softball.
Cassandra was already walking to the front door, muttering out her introduction under her breath. Ezekiel bounded on after her, scanning the walls of the building and its matching white-framed windows. It looked like something that came more out of habit than intent. Baird tucked a reminder in her brain to warn him about appearing suspicious in front of an unsuspecting audience. Not that he'd really need the caveat. Obviously Ezekiel would be fine; she just liked to play it safe.
Cassandra rang the doorbell and took a small step back.
The door opened immediately after. A woman wearing a deep scowl glared down at Cassandra. "I told all the paparazzi to go home. You are no exception. Now, get!"
"No, no! We're not the paparazzi. We're the Librarians," was Cassandra's immediate response.
The woman's tear-stricken eyes lit up in uninterested understanding. "Oh. I see. Come on in. The kids are with my sister right now. Jeremy's in the kitchen."
"Okay. Thanks!" Cassandra responded, painfully happy.
They stepped in and moved past the woman to the direction she had pointed to. A man was hunched over a drink and sitting on a bar stool. Jeremy looked up at the four people that had entered into his house with clouded eyes. "Hm," he said.
Jake stepped forward first this time. "Hey. I'm Jacob Stone, and these are a few of my associates. We're the Librarians. Y'know."
Jeremy sighed and nodded slowly. "Yeah. You must be the ones lookin' for that... thing. Take it for examination or a museum. I don't care. Just... get it away from me. Oh, yeah. I don't recommend touchin' it either."
Baird tilted her head. "And why's that, if you don't mind explaining it to us."
He grunted, and the smell of beer wafted into Baird's nostrils. He must have been drinking a lot lately. "It sticks to ya. Like some..." he waved his arms around momentarily, "jellyfish. Can't get it off you. It'll make you wanna spill everything." He sighed again. "If I di'nt know better, I'd say it was magic."
"Don't be ridiculous, mate." Ezekiel placed his hand roughly on Jeremy's shoulder, who flinched at the sudden contact. "There's no such thing as magic. Now. Where's the sphere?"
Jeremy stood up off his stool. "I'll bring you to it. Here." He reached over the counter and grabbed what appeared to be a pair of tongs. "You're gonna need to use these to pick it up."
Jake reached over and grabbed them before Ezekiel could reach them. "Thanks, man." Jake gave a satisfied smirk to Ezekiel. Baird shook her head when the master thief stuck his tongue out in response.
They followed the man silently as he brought them to the Sphere of Truth. He pointed to a small, wooden box on top of a desk inside an office. "In there." Baird didn't fail to miss the hateful expression Jeremy gave them. "Help yourselves."
He exited the room, leaving a trail of muttered words in his wake.
Ezekiel was already examining the room for anything of significance that might pop out to him. Cassandra tapped Baird's shoulder.
"I'm going to go talk to his wife. Maybe she can tell us more about the Sphere of Truth's effects on Jeremy. That way we can have more records for it in the library."
Baird nodded as Cassandra walked away.
"Aces."
Jake looked to Ezekiel, his face contorted in confusion. He then turned to Baird, who shrugged.
"There is literally nothing here. He was just some boring drongo."
Baird closed her eyes. "You were right. His accent IS getting worse."
"Hold up..." Ezekiel sat down at the computer. After a few moments, he grinned. "Got it. He got it from some other guy that dug it up at a Zerekonian burial sight. Whatever that is."
Jake moved behind Ezekiel to get a glance at the open email on the screen. "Sherokian, idiot. That's where the book said it'd be, so that makes sense." The two of them leaned closer to the screen to continue reading. "Huh. Seemed eager to get rid of it."
"He probably experienced the same effects as Jeremy. Wanted to get it off his hands and onto Jeremy's. Smart." Baird grabbed the tongs from Jake's hand. "Do either of you have a bag that I'll be able to put the sphere in?"
"Why don't we just take the box with us?"
"Because, Jones, that would be stealing." Baird paused. "But I suppose that's not a bad idea. One of you go ahead and get Red. I think we can label this as a success."
Jenkins placed the box, cracked open slightly, onto a mantle then clapped his hands together to remove any invisible dust. "Well done. You actually got an artifact like this without any... incident."
He turned around just as the door opened, revealing a mildly flustered Flynn. "Hello, everyone!" He wobbled around before finding a steady shelf to lean on. "I see you have... something, what, exactly, is in that box?"
"We got ourselves a Sherokian Sphere of Truth, and she is quite a beauty." Jake lifted the lid and a slight, fluorescent golden glow was released.
"Nice one." Flynn sauntered over to the object after becoming immediately transfixed. "I've always wanted to get one for the Library. It would make a good interrogation device." He reached over to the box only to be pulled away by Baird.
"Flynn. No touching."
He made a 'crap, I forgot' expression and shrugged. "My bad. Slipped my mind completely. Did you know that once you hold it, you can't let go?"
"Ooh, ooh! I did! I knew that!" Cassandra waved her hand up in the air and bounced on her toes. "Mrs. Abbot told me that she had to use those tongs to get it off his hand. It was like he couldn't let go, but she didn't want to touch it herself in case it got stuck to her."
"Like a jellyfish," said Ezekiel.
"I remember Jeremy saying that. And you, Mister Flynn Carson, have given me an idea." Baird grinned down at him. Flynn raised a curious eyebrow.
"Have I?" He smiled at her. "I have."
"Yes, you have. You said earlier that Prospero was looking for a more powerful magical artifact, correct?"
"I think I see where you're going with this. And yes, he still wants more magical things to help build up his own power."
Baird turned to others. "Librarians. I have a plan."
"So your plan is to basically attempt to outsmart the smartest person in the room? Sounds great. I'm positive that Ezekiel won't screw that up."
"Woah there, mate. I'm catching on to your sarcasm there."
"Hold on a minute." Flynn raised on his palm to cut short Jake's reply. "It isn't like he's even that much smarter than us. I mean, c'mon. It can't be that hard."
Baird rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Flynn. You're still a genius."
"Aw." He placed his fist to his heart. "That means a lot coming from-"
"But Moriarty has outdone you in the past, so we have to stay on our toes."
Cassandra flinched for Flynn. "Ouch."
Jenkins had pulled the Sphere of Truth from its box using the tongs and was examining it. "I do believe this should work. The Sphere of Truth emits a very strong magical pull. I'm almost certain that if Prospero is looking for powerful magic, he would want this. The real question is," he placed the orb-like object back into its encasing. "will he send Moriarty to get it?"
Baird shrugged. "We have to hope so. Last time there was a huge surge of magic in one place he sent Moriarty."
"But he didn't get any of the Library's magical artifacts. We were able to run away with them, remember? So Prospero might not trust him." Ezekiel shrugged. "I don't know if I would."
"Well, actually, he did get the Staff of Knowledge, so..." Cassandra gave him a weak smile.
"So he most likely will send Moriarty to get it," Jake finished. "Plus, Prospero will probably be trying to work with the magic he has now to accomplish whatever it is he's tryin' to do."
"Then it's settled," said Baird. She smiled at each of her librarians. "We're going through with the plan. Do we need to run through it again?"
Ezekiel snorted. "No need, Colonel Baird. I think we can handle it."
Hope you liked it! This is more-or-less a prologue. Reviews are always welcome, and if you have any ideas to include in the story, let me know! I'd be happy to consider (especially if it has to do with Moriarty :) ).
The plot will actually start to unfold more in the next chapter~