Booktale: Turn the page
Part 1
A sharp creak breaks the fragile silence in the high, dark building that is the of the Library of Beginning. A pair of massive front doors crack open just a bit, conjuring a small gust of wind. The wind makes dust in the air dance and in the dim yellow light from outside the dust looks like the dance of the fairies. Or at least that is what our little guest thinks. Small child with small everything sneaks in as quietly as they can. They have no idea where they are but the high ceiling and the thick blanket of silence makes them feel right at home. They loves libraries, since library is the only place they have ever known. With excited giggle they head off to explore with a spring on their step. What an adorable little thing!
Deeper in the maze of bookshelves the gust of wind travels along the hallways, bringing forth some long-awaited fresh air. Dust dances where the wind blows but no one is there to see the dance of the fairies. Finally the wind reaches a lonely figure that casts a long shadow on the bookshelf behind him. He's reading a book with pages of light and occasionally he either chuckles, frowns or mutters to himself. He slowly turns the pages and pauses once in a while to look at some pages more closely, though every page looks exactly the same. But suddenly he stops completely. On one of the pages there's a black stain that's spreading quickly across the page, covering it under hard, dark surface. The grin he had on his face up until now disappears and worried scowl takes it's place. He sets one of his bony fingers on the stain. For a second it looks like the blackness might stop spreading. But he hisses from pain and quickly takes his finger off the stain. His fingertip is slightly grey and a small crack can be seen on it. The stain keeps spreading as fast as a plague and soon the whole page is entirely black. The blackness is still and dead, far from the light just seconds ago. The scowl deepens on his face and he gently brushes the black surface with his fingertips, hoping for a miracle. But nothing happens. He shuts the book sighing heavily and sets it back on the shelf. Right after the book shakes a bit and turns entirely black, cover and all. The grin is back on his face but on his eyes, or more like eye sockets, you can see sorrow.
"It was just getting good. What's the use of giving up on the final straight?"
He picks up a steaming cup of coffee from the shelf and takes a long sip, sighing from pleasure right after. On the mug it says "I have a latte on my mind". He reads it, chuckles(it's not even that funny) and looks around. Two other books turn black couple of bookshelves to the right, both from the same creator, and he scowls yet again, this time annoyed.
"What is with Creators these days? Is it quantity over quality? Books are on the shelves longer and more and more of them get Forgotten right before completion. It can't be the lack of interest or motivation. The universes that get Forgotten are the fruits of dedication and inspiration. And yet Creators don't finish their hard work. Must be an outside source. Bullying? No, maybe not..."
He keeps on rambling to himself, theorizing, and doesn't notice when a voice starts calling his name somewhere in the maze. A high-pitched call moves around between the bookshelves, looking for him. The voice sounds more pissed by the minute.
"Paaaaaaaaage! Paaage! Page, for void's sake, where are you?! It's terrible!"
The voice gets closer and closer until it finally reaches his, Page's, whereabouts. Something white and flying turns from the corner on Page's left and it's eyes flash when seeing him. Voice's owner is a small, floating, weird looking animal skull with eyes that shine red. Those eyes now glow with irritation and it's small mouth, full of sharp teeth, looks like it's ready to bite someone if needed. And the skull seems to be someone more than willing to do so. It floats to Page and stops right next to his face, staring him down like he's more insignificant than the dust floating everywhere.
"Page! I swear I'd kill you if you weren't needed right now. You have to come! Something terrible has happened!"
Page only now stops muttering and focuses his attention on animal skull thingy. Page grins and pats it's head, which makes the skull look even more irritated. It looks ready to bite off one of Page's fingers. Page seems to sense that and quickly withdraws his hand.
"Hiya there Det. How is it going? You seem like you're having a blast. Why are you not calling me master?"
Gaster Blaster Det stops looking irritated and looks now more like (-_-'). Det sighs and decides to ignore the "call me master" part, like always. Det's tiny jaws clack together as it speaks, abnormally fast if I may say so.
"Look, save your bad puns for later. We have a serious situation. A human child somehow got through the mist"
Page suddenly becomes serious and won't even comment on his puns being bad(which is a rare occurrence). Instead he rushes past Det , not even picking up his precious coffee mug. Page heads straight to the front doors, wherever they are. Somehow Page seems to know where even in the middle of a maze. Det floats next to him, easily keeping up on Page's slow jog. Det has bored look on it's face now that it got the message to Page. Det couldn't care less what happens to the child. Det turns backwards and tries to make eye contact with Page, who is focused on navigating their way through the maze.
"You shouldn't go so fast. The human isn't going anywhere and you'll only tire yourself out"
Page won't listen and continues jogging along the looooooooong hallway of books. But, just as Det said, soon he is wheezing and has to support himself on a pile of books. Det hovers close by waiting for Page to gather his strength. Det tries to keep it's words to itself. But Det just can't resist and inhales.
"Told ya. You should realize how often I'm right and you're wrong"
Page glares at Det and Det realizes the mistake in it's choice of words. This time Page inhales. And exhales. And inhales again and exhales until he gets his words out, one by one. Det rolls it's eyes, Page is such a drama queen.
"You *wheeze* say...it *huff* 'I told *ow, my side* YOU...so'. You *gulp* know how *I can't breathe* much I...hate incorrect *wheeze* grammar"
"And yet you use puns that twist grammar around all the time. Hypocrite"
"Puns are an *huff* art form and they *wheeze* cannot be bound *cough* by earthly rules and acts,*it hurts* not even by grammar. I...rest my...case. Now *ugh* let me be"
Page continues wheezing for a while after his declaration and Det starts looking impatient. It starts spinning around in order to kill time but gets bored soon and focuses on lecturing Page who is now wheezing much less. Page grins through Det's lecture, skimming through the nearest book. It's a normal one with normal word-filled pages and everything. Det doesn't even notice; it's too busy listening to it's own voice.
"Seriously, how can anyone even have such a bad health. I always tell you: do not keep the seven of us summoned all the time. It really consumes your magic. Yet you always keep us around even though you do not need us all. Are you really that lonely or something? Pathetic! If you really want us around then don't constantly talk to yourself. It really weirds me...I mean, US out!"
Page holds in a laugh and it comes out as a chortle. He's grinning from ear to ear(he doesn't have ears but you get it) and decides to write Det's slip-up down when he has the chance. It was funny.
"As always I just love your way of showing concern, Det. It just makes my heart detonate. You're so determined to show affection is makes me all red"
Det groans in annoyance and opens it's jaw for a comeback but decides to leave it. Page would only make up lame puns about everything it says. Det settles for huffing with anger and decides to spit on Page's coffee mug later. Page chuckles and puts down the book. The bags under his eye sockets look darker and darker. Page reaches for his coffee but the mug is not there. He sighs and blinks his eyes slowly, trying to get rid of the haze sneaking into his vision.
"Det, can you check with others and tell me what that child is up to? And tell them to make sure the kid doesn't open any books. I don't have the energy to fetch them from one right now"
Det doesn't answer, only lands on top of the book pile next to Page and concentrates. The light in Det's eyes fades a bit, like it's consciousness is somewhere else. Page fights against sleep and wishes for coffee from every god from every universe, only to end up more tired. Few minutes later the light in Det's eyes reignites, only a bit weaker. Det takes a few deep breaths and coughs a bit. It seems tired and, if possible, even more irritated than before.
"Don't make me do that! It saps my magic which is even lower now when your magic is low. What's the use if we're both exhausted? *Sigh* Anyway, Patty is watching the human right now and seems like it's really a curious one. It has only opened Forgotten and normal books thus far but it's only a matter of time before the human opens an unfinished universe. Want me to call Honey here to make a shortcut?"
Page shakes his head and rises back on his feet. His eyes seem rejuvenated and the shortness of his breath is gone. Somehow even Det seems more energetic(what can be a good or a bad thing).
"No need for Honey. The doors are close to here. I know a shortcut that doesn't involve magic"
Page turns 90 degrees to left and jogs down a new hallway of books. Det sneers and follows after him, sure that Page would get tired soon again anyway. But, like Page said, they quickly arrive at a corner where from they can see the main doors on the right. And few meters away from them they can also see Patty, another blaster, who's whimpering next to a bookshelf. On the floor below Patty is a pile of black books with one book of light on top. Page rubs his brow and slowly walks towards Patty, who looks like the weight of the world has left it's shoulders when it sees the two of them. Patty flies fast, too fast, towards Page and clonks against his face. They both exclaim , more from surprise than pain, and Page takes a step back because of the impact. Det giggles a bit on the side. Patty is on the verge of tears(if blasters could cry) and blabbers almost incomprehensive words at Page.
"Paaaaaaaage, help! I was too slow...a...and the child, the...they opened a univeeeeeeeeeerse! They got sucked into...into a..horror-themed world! You gotta save theeeeeeeeem! The monsters in that one are ru..ruth...ruthleeeeeeeeeeess!"