Summary: Social media star Corrine believed in miracle, magic and everything in between, so when she's given the chance to become a librarian- a keeper and protector of all things magic- she didn't hesitate to jump in headfirst.
So, I got the idea for this story when I was binge watching season two of the Librarians with my sister. We were watching an episode (I can't remember which) and I said #Awkward and, from that and only that, Corrine Smith was born.
"Tell Tommy I love him. Tell Tommy I miss him. Tell him though I may try, my love for him will never die." Corrine sung along with the music as she chopped the peppers for her dinner. "He drove his car in that stock car race to win money so we could wed. He wanted so much to make me his wife; Now our love lives on though he lost his life. I'm so lonely without him near. Oh how I miss his warm embrace. I'll love no other I want him to know, oh little star please tell him so."
A knock interrupted her singing and Corrine put down her knife before picking up the remote from next to the cutting board. She turned her music down to a reasonable volume as she made her way to the door. She sat it down on the small table in the hall before looking through the peep hole.
There were two people standing outside her door. One was a woman with blonde hair pulled back into a bun and she wore a pants suit that Corrine wouldn't be caught dead wearing. The other was a man with short brown hair and a total cowboy vibe.
Deeming them harmless, Corrine unlocked her door before opening it up. She gave them a welcoming smile as they both looked at her in confusion.
"Can I help you?" The woman looked down at the small piece of paper in her hands before looking back at Corrine.
"You're Muriel Leichhardt Lapérouse ?" She asked and Corrine's smile faltered and her eyes narrowed.
"How did you find that name?" She asked, her hand gripping the door tighter.
"How are you Muriel Lapérouse?" The man asked. "You're Corrine Smith."
"How did you get my address?" They ignored her.
The woman turned to the man and furrowed her eyebrows. "You know her?" He scoffed.
"Who doesn't?" He asked with crossed arms. "She's one of those Youtuber Instagram chicks. She's famous for nothing." At that Corrine scoffed.
"Excuse you?" She demanded. "I do not do nothing. I lead a very interesting life and people like to follow it- not to mention, I give them fashion tips, makeup tips and I get paid handsomely for it. Don't harp on my job just because you don't understand it; that'd be like me thinking the surgeons are stupid because I don't know how they do what they-" But Corrine was cut off when a hand grabbed her from behind and she was pulled back into her apartment.
She heard the door of her apartment slam fully open as she crashed to the ground and quickly scrambled onto her knees to find what had grabbed her. Only a few feet away from her stood a ninja, fully cloaked in black and posed to fight.
"Jacob, get her out of here!" The blonde woman ordered as Corrine fumbled, trying to stand up. The man had grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the apartment as fast as he could.
"What is going on?!" Corrine demanded as she rushed down the hallway with the man- Jacob. He opened his mouth to answer only for Corrine to scream as the elevator opened and two more ninjas jumped out. One went for Jacob as the other went for Corrine; he threw something at her and she ducked before turning around to see a silver ninja star embedded in the wall. "You have got to be- ah!" She yelped as she was grabbed from behind. She struggled in the ninja's grip as her dragged her to the window by the elevator and she immediately knew what he was planning to do. Death by window was not how she was planning on dying.
With a deep breath, Corrine pushed back with all her strength and was able to lift her legs off the ground as she was shoved towards the window. Just in the nick of time, she planted the bottom of her black ankle boots on the sides of the window. She had to bend her legs as she was pushed forcefully into the window, but managed to kick back and knock her attacker off guard.
They both fell to the ground and scrambled to get up, but the ninja managed to only a second too late. With a loud yell, Corrine had spun around before kicking the ninja square in the chest with her boot and sent him out the window.
"Where'd you learn to do that?" Jacob asked and Corrine turned around to see that his ninja was now unconscious on the floor. "Barbie Bootcamp?"
"...Something like that." She admitted as the blonde woman came rushing down the hallway towards them. She looked at the unconscious ninja on the floor and then to Jacob.
"What did you do?" She asked. Mistaking her inquisitive tone for something else, Jacob pointed to Corrine.
"She kicked hers out of the window!"
"Dude!" Corrine exclaimed. Rolling her eyes, the blonde woman walked forward, pressed the down button for the elevator and stepped in once they opened. Jacob and Corrine followed. "Who are you people?"
"Who are you?" The blonde shot back. "We came here for Muriel Lapérouse and yet the ninjas are all coming after you. Explain."
"And why should I?" Corrine demanded. "You show up at my address with a name that you shouldn't even know is mine and then I get attacked by ninjas- one of which almost threw me out of a window!"
"We came here to protect you from the ninjas who just tried to kill you." The blonde said sharply. "Or, at least, we came here to protect Muriel Lapérouse, but they all seem to be coming after you. So, I'm gonna ask one more time-" She turned to Corrine who was beginning to notice just how much a two inch height different was. "Who. Are. You?"
Stepping back, Corrine resisted the urge she got to bite her fingernails. She had spent three hours at the salon getting them done. "I'm Muriel Leichhardt Lapérouse" She told them and Jacob scoffed.
"Not likely." Both Corrine and the blonde looked to him with raised eyebrows and Corrine crossed her arms, immediately getting offended. "Muriel Lapérouse is a gifted chemist, literary professor and an explorer- she spent an entire year living with the Flos Hill tribe on a previously undiscovered island."
"What the hell is a Flos Hill?" The blonde asked.
"Well 146 BC, before Rome conquered Greece, a gladiator by the name of Aulus didn't think that the war would turn out Rome's favor so he took his three grandchildren and sailed away from Rome. They got caught in a storm, but they all washed up on the shore of a tiny isle hundreds of thousands of miles away from Rome where an Indian tribe called Flos Hill lived."
"And the the tribe who were friendly, giving and caring in nature offered Aulus and his grandchildren a spot in their community." Corrine continued, to the surprise of Jacob and the blonde. "Aulus died, but not before he had several more children with one of the women in the village. His grandchildren, Cato, Sabina, and Vita also married and had children with tribe members. Because of Aulus, his grandchildren and the culture they brought with them from Rome, the Flos Hill tribe worship a number of different Gods and have a culture that is unique only to them. No one in the entire world knew anything about the Flos Hill tribe until Muriel Lapérouse found them, lived with them and brought their existance to America in her book titled The Hill Flower Tribe; Uninterrupted Natives."
.
.
.
"...How'd you know that?" Jacob asked after a few minutes and Corrine sighed.
"I told you," She shifted where she stood. "I'm Muriel Lapérouse"
"Oh, God!" Corrine gasped as she practically fell through the doorway. "What the hell was that?!" She gasped as she leaned against the brick wall. She took a deep breath to see that Jacob was in a similar position, but the blonde- who had introduced herself as Colonel Baird- seemed used to it as she righted herself. That's when Corrine noticed where they were. "How are we in New York right now?"
"What are you talking about?" Jacob- or Stone as he preferred- asked as Corrine pushed herself off the wall and walked forward. The dozens of glossy wooden tables sat in two symmetrical rows where hundreds of people sat and browsed through the hundred of books that were stuffed in the bookshelves.
"This is the New York Metropolitan Library." She continued. "My sister brought me here when I was thirteen." She slowly turned around to face Baird and Stone. "We were just in California." She pointed out before turning back around to the librarian. "How are we in New York?"
"Magic door." Baird answered as she walked past Corrine and towards the elevator where she had left Cassandra. There was someone else with the redhead; an Asian- could she call him a man?- with tanned skin and slouchy posture.
"Oh, okay." But then Corrine realized what Baird had said. "Wait, what?"
Baird ignored her as she stopped in front of Cassandra and the newcomer. "You must be Ezekiel." She said pressing the down button next to the elevator doors.
"Yeah," He confirmed warily in an Austrailian accent. "How'd you know?"
"Did you say 'magic door'?" Stone asked as he and Corrine appeared at her sides just as the elevator doors opened and she stepped inside. She took a spot in the middle before turning to see that everyone else was standing and staring at her.
"In." She ordered. Ezekiel was the first inside; having been pushed by Stone who entered next. Corrine was last, letting Cassandra go before her. Once they were inside, Baird pressed the down button which brought another onslaught of questions.
"How are we going so far down?" That was Cassandra.
"Are you going to explain that whole 'magic door' thing?" Corrine.
"...This is new." Ezekiel.
"What the hell?!" Was it necessary to say who?
Baird answered none of their questions and, soon enough, the elevator doors opened, revealing the actual library where Flynn stood expectantly. Baird was the first out of the elevator and everyone else followed her lead, but stopped at the top of the steps.
"No way." Corrine breathed and Cassandra giggled excitedly beside her. On her other side, Stone was speechless while Ezekiel couldn't help but laugh.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Stone said at last.
"Not kidding." Flynn assured him as he gestured them forward. "But we don't have a lot of time, so questions." The four got down the stairs and began making their way past the artifacts and to Flynn. Stone pointed to a long spear that sat on a display as they walked near it. "Is that the Spear of Destiny?" Corrine had no idea what that was.
"Yes." Flynn nodded. Stone pointed to the next stand they passed as Flynn started walking.
"Arc of the Covenant?!"
"Yes."
"What about the Loch Ness Monster?" Corrine asked.
"Yes."
"The Blair Witch?"
"No."
"Dragons?"
"Nasty things." Flynn shook his head. "You do not want to run into one."
"Wait, what about Big Foot and Dracula?" Cassandra asked.
"Yes and no." Flynn answered. "Yes on Big Foot."
"So, vampires aren't real?" Ezekiel asked.
"Vampires are real, but Dracula is not...because I killed him." He looked to Baird. "Is this helping? I don't know that it is."
"What?" Cassandra asked quickly as Flynn turned into a row of bookshelves. She ran after him with Baird and the others following closely behind.
"Ten years ago, each of you received an envelope inviting you to apply for a position here in the Library, but you never showed." Cassandra's eyes furrowed as she tried to remember where she was.
"Ten years ago, I was in the hospital."
Flynn nodded. "Right, with your tumor." Everyone suddenly looked to Flynn and he hissed and winced, realizing that he had spilled Cassandra's secret. Slowing turning around, he faced the others and a sheepish Cassandra. "Um...synesthetes rarely have all five senses involved, you've got full on hallucinations and seizures indicative of a frontal lobe anomaly; oligodendroglioma." Corrine tried not to convey pity as she looked at Cassandra. She could already tell that pity was something the redhead had too much of. "How...big is it?" Flynn asked warily.
"...About the size of a grape." She answered as she illustrated with her hand. "Which I really wished they hadn't told me because I used to really like grapes."
"Are you-" Ezekiel began, but stopped when Corrine set the heel of her boot into his foot. He groaned, but Cassandra already knew what he was going to ask.
"Not yet." She said sadly as Stone shot Ezekiel an incredulous look. "Someday- sooner than I'd like, but...not yet." Not liking the still silence around her, Cassandra continued. "But I lived long enough to learn the magic exists, so that's pretty cool."
"Very cool." Flynn added.
"Extremely." Corrine corrected as she swiped a small, thin book off of a nearby shelf and looked at the cover; Magical Poisons and Their Helpful Counterparts. Knowing that it would come in handy and probably wouldn't be missed, Corrine slipped the small book into her back pocket. Looking up, Corrine realized that the group had continued on without her and quickly rushed to catch up.
"I threw mine out." Ezekiel was saying when she silently integrated herself into the group and everyone looked at him. "It was obviously a mistake." He informed them although Corrine could tell he wasn't exactly sure. "I steal stuff- I've been stealing stuff since I was a kid. I'm not gonna get invited to work at a library."
"It's a magic library." Cassandra reminded and Ezekiel shrugged.
"Yeah, great. Doesn't fill my pocket."
"Muriel-" Baird didn't know if she went by that. "Corrine...what about you?" She scoffed.
"I was fifteen ten years ago." She told them as she crossed her arms. "Any mail that I had went straight to my parents. They probably threw it out." Stone looked to her in question. "My sister disappeared a year earlier, so they rarely let me out of their sight."
"How old was she?" Cassandra asked.
"Eighteen." Corrine answered. "She came here to New York to work for this library- the actual library." She explained at their looks. "She called my mother every day like she usually did and then...then we never heard from her again."
Stone shook his head. "Now it makes sense." Corrine raised an eyebrow.
"What makes sense?" She and Cassandra chorused.
"Your name." He answered. "Your pen name; Muriel Leichhardt Lapérouse."
"I'm not understanding." Baird confessed and Stone looked at her.
"Muriel Leichhardt Lapérouse." He repeated. "Muriel was the name of Amelia Earhart's younger sister."
"Amelia Earhart?" Ezekiel asked. "Like the chick who disappeared over the Pacific?"
Stone nodded. "Lapérouse was the last name of Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse; he was an explorer who disappeared in Oceania during an expedition and lastly there's Leichhardt, as in Ludwig Leichhardt; a Prussian explorer who vanished- the only clues to his whereabouts being the L's he carved into a few trees."
"My sister was an explorer." Corrine explained. "She was smart, brave and...just amazing. Our parents took us camping once and we got lost in the woods one night. Miriam got us back to the campsite only using her compass and a piece of rope."
Baird raised an eyebrow. "What'd she used the rope for?"
"To tie my wrist to hers, so I wouldn't get lost." The trio continued to follow Flynn and Baird through the Library. "If magic's real, how come nobody knows?" Corrine asked. "It's the age of smart phones; I know if my friend's cat does something stupid, people're gonna film magic if they see it."
Flynn turned, throwing open a set of doors to a smaller room; it was big compared to most rooms with another floor, high ceilings and dozens of other bookshelves, there were even a few tables around the room and one long one in the middle which the group followed Flynn to. "Once upon a time," He began. "The world was filled with magic. It traveled along a power network called Ley Lines. See the Ley Lines." Picking up a small orb that sat on the table, Flynn threw it up in the air and it expanded, turning into a giant hologram of the earth. Corrine could see pulsing blue lines that crosses over all the different countries- some even in the water. "See the magic? Over the centuries, the magic was drained off and stored into artifacts." Smaller holograms began to erupt from the globe; a skull, books, jewelry and other different things.
"Like Excalibur." Baird added and Flynn nodded as he rounded the table and Corrine wondered why he was holding an umbrella.
"Exactly, he was one of the most powerful."
"He?" Cassandra asked.
Flynn simply continued walking around the table and talking, paying no mind to Cassandra's question. "The magic continued to fade as cities were constructed over the Ley Lines and technology began to advance. And, as you can see now, there's very little magic left." Corrine looked back up to see that the smaller holograms had disappeared and so had many of the Ley Lines. "My job is to make sure that what remains doesn't fall into the wrong hands." Flynn stopped a the head of the table and put down the umbrella, just as the hologram disappeared and the orb fell right into his hands. Placing it back in the place he had taken it from, Flynn looked around at them all. "Like the people who tried to kill the four of you." He began walking again and Corrine couldn't help but compare him to a peacock.
"The woman who tried to kill Stone had a snake tattoo." Baird told him. Flynn stilled before looking back at her.
"Serpent Brotherhood..."
"That doesn't sound good." Corrine commented and he looked at her.
"It's not." He confirmed. "The Serpent Brotherhood is an ancient cult bent on bringing magic back into the world. I've fought them before."
"What did Professor Sheir find that pushed the brotherhood to kill him, then murder their way down the list?" Baird asked. Corrine looked at Ezekiel who stood next to her.
"Who's Professor Sheir?" He shrugged.
"Does it have anything to do with this painting?" Stone asked looking down at the paper in his hand. "Crown of King Arthur?"
"What?!" Flynn demanded before rushing over to Stone. Pulling the paper from his hand, he looked at it before letting out a little weazing laugh. "Crown of King Arthur? You sure?" Stone nodded.
"Yeah."
"Mind sharing with the rest of the group?" Baird requested.
"Crown of King Arthur was forged by Merlin to give Arthur control over the magic that he needed to build Camelot." He told them all.
"So the Brotherhood wants to bring magic back, but they need the crown to control it." Baird looked surprised at herself. "Cannot believe I just said that with a straight face."
Cassandra raised her hand a bit. "Um, why is bringing magic back bad?" She asked.
"Yeah," Corrine agreed. "Magic seems pretty cool."
"Magic is cool," Flynn agreed. "Until warring nations drown each other in tidal waves of blood or use dragons to burn cities to the ground. Magic used well can be good, but a world of wild magic is full of chaos and suffering."
"No longer cool." Corrine said as Cassandra visibly deflated.
"I will begin by exa..." Flynn looked for the picture of the painting only to see that Stone had once again picked it up. He took it back. "I will begin by examining the original painting.
"Well, I just said that I remember that it was called The crown of King Arthur." He reminded. "It's an unknown artist. I don't know where that thing's at."
"Munich museum of History and Art." Ezekiel answered immediately and everyone looked to him in question. "Oh, I cased it last month for a heist, memorized the inventory."
"That's why they were targeted." Baird realized and Corrine raised an eyebrow. "You were busy doing whatever Librarians do-"
"Saving the world... a lot." Flynn interjected.
Baird paid him no mind. "And they... the other Librarians-"
"Not Librarians. I'm the only Librarian."
"Were the people most likely to find the crown." Baird continued. "The Brotherhood was just trying to wipe out the competition."
"I say we beat them to it." Stone replied.
"Fair enough."Ezekiel nodded. "Nobody tries to stab Ezekiel Jones in the back."
"Or throw me out of a window." Corrine added.
Cassandra shrugged. "I've never been to Europe, so..." Flynn stepped in.
"Uh, first of all, no." He said pointing at Stone and then turned to Ezekiel. "Second of all, let's not refer to ourselves in the third person." He looked to Cassandra and Corrine. "You threw a ninja out of a window and Europe is overrated. And I work alone." He informed them all as he started towards the door. So, if you'll excuse me... Goodbye."
"Unh-unh," Baird started forward and stopped in front of Flynn. "I got an envelope. The Library invited me to this party, and I'm taking them to Munich. Maybe we'll see you there." She gestured to the four at the table. Ezekiel pointed at himself and looked to Corrine who shrugged and went towards the door. The others followed after. "Do try to keep up."
"Oh, I hate magic doors." Corrine groaned as she and the others were thrown through. Baird came out last and the door shut behind her.
"Alright, we're here." Flynn pointed out and Corrine glared at him.
"Yeah, we know." She panted. "We got tossed through the magic teleporting door too." Flynn paid her no mind and started towards the paintings, leaving the others to follow. Looking down at the map he had stolen from the passing tour guide, he turned right and then left before turning his body and looking straight ahead. "It's over there." Flynn looked to where Corrine was pointing and started towards it, once again paying her no mind.
"Hello," He purred. "What can you tell us?"
"This is the ugliest painting I've ever seen in my life." Corrine deadpanned and Stone glared at her. "What?"
"The Crown of King Arthur." Cassandra started, after no one began talking. "Artist unknown. Painted in 1146. Installed as one of the original pieces in this museum in 1546."
"Look at the swords on the knights." Stone told Flynn. "Roman short swords. Arthur's wearing the equipment of a Roman legionnaire. It's the Roman hypothesis."
Unable to pass up an opportunity for teaching, Flynn spoke up. "The theory is that when the Roman Empire fell, the Roman legion stationed in Britain stayed behind."
"Camelot as a city, armored warriors, legionnaires. It all fits."
"Arthur was a Roman." Cassandra, Stone, and Flynn chorused.
"Arthur was a Roman." Corrine said a bit behind and Ezekiel nodded. She hadn't even been paying attention to what they were saying.
"Yeah. There's only one problem." Stone said and everyone looked to him. "The painting's a fake." They all looked from him to the painting and then back again. "Look," He walked forward, pointing at the red of the clothes. "This color red... it's a dye." Everyone else followed to get closer. "It's called carmine. It was discovered in like the 1500s. Painting can't be as early as 1100."
"Also odd..." Ezekiel grabbed at the edge of the painting but it wouldn't budge. "It can't be moved. This frame's anchored into the beam. You'd have to smash down this wall to move it."
"One-zero-one-one-zero-one-zero" Cassandra read off as she felt along the edge of the frame. "There's a binary code engraved into the frame that you can't move."
"And the canvas is all wrong." Corrine pointed out, seeing it was her time to shine. "My grandmother used to paint all the time. This is a splined canvas. This didn't come around until the fourteen hundreds."
"Who cares?" Stone asked. "That's not-the point is, is that this is a..."
Ezekiel cut in. "Oh, no, this type of security is not used in Europe-"
"It's the most basic sequence in all of math!" Cassandra said, not to be ignored.
"You think you're the only one who can spot a fake painting?" Corrine jumped in until they were all shushed by Flynn.
"Okay, okay. Enough, enough!" They all quieted down. "Shh! It's like listening to the inside of my own head... Except louder. We have a fake painting. How do we know it's a fake? Because the canvas is wrong for the era it was painted, but why is it a fake?" Corrine opened her mouth to answer, but Flynn continued. "Because it's meant as a message, not art. And it's in a frame that can't be moved, which means that the frame's location in this museum is important. And it has a code in it."
"A coordinate code," Cassandra added. "Leading you... somewhere, but it requires a key, some sort of reference point. Like a fixed point in space-"
"Like a painting that can't be moved?" Corrine suggested and Flynn pointed at her.
"The entire museum is the key." Cassandra realized, stepping away from the painting. " The dimensions of the floors, the rooms in the museum as they relate to where the painting is. That's the key to the code."
"Leading where?" Ezekiel asked.
"Let's find out." Knowing they would be left behind if they didn't follow, the four ran after Flynn as he rushed through the museum, out of the front door and to the middle of the courtyard in front of it.
"There!" He said before running off towards a sculpture of a sundial. He began examining it and Corrine lifted her head to see that Baird had joined them. "Latin. "The crown of the Celts lies 70 leagues to the great woods." And then there's some coordinates. This means... The crown of King Arthur is real. And it's buried in the black forest." He revealed before noticing that Baird was there. "Well, where have you been? Some very exciting stuff's going on here." Flynn took off running again and Corrine groaned.
"Why did I wear heels today?" She asked as she took off after him with the others.