Chapter 3

The Everse World

Scene 1

Midnight

[E] The Library

"Hilda. Wake up." Hilbert called out. But his voice sounded muffled.

Twig began licking Hilda's face, causing her to regain her composure faster. Once woken up, Hilbert pulled her to her feet.

"...W-where are we?" Hilda asked.

"We're in the library, except it's the library of my world." Hilbert explained.

Looking around, things at first glance seemed to look rather the same. However, a staircase that Hilda usually took was at the opposite side of the room.

She also took notice of the outside lighting. The streetlamps' lights were much more orange, and the moonlight was also a bit warmer colored than she was accustomed to.

"I have to say, things feel...rather different." Hilda stated

"Well, of course it would. But… there's a strange unfamiliar feeling I'm gathering. Something's not right..." Hilbert said.

Hilda took notice of the people who opened the portal. They looked somewhat like David and Frida, but different, like Hilbert.

"Hilda, this is Dana, and Freddie." Hilbert introduced. "Dana and Freddie, Hilda."

"Hello there." said Dana

Hilda shook their hands with an uneasy face.

"Oh- Dana. Bug on you." Hilbert pointed before grabbing the little creature off of his friend's head.

"Heh, thanks for that. Say, how exactly do our opposites act?" she added.

"Perhaps we could meet them?" asked Freddie.

"Maybe." Hilda answered.

Hilbert was suddenly distracted by something.

"The moonlight is a bit more orange than usual…" He remarked. "I don't like this at all."

"I get the feeling we're on more of a clock than we thought…" Hilda muttered.

"Where'd you find the book in your world?" Hilbert asked Hilda.

"Which book?" Dana asked.

"The book that explains all this. I'm certain there's a duplicate of it in this world." Hilbert explained.

"It should be in the Nowhere Space near the hidden room." Hilda explained. "The Librarian should be able to find it easily."

"Well, that's just great… I don't think Tontu is awake at this hour…" Hilbert admitted. "I suppose I should return the favor and let you stay at my place."

"I guess we'll go home too." Freddie replied.

"Stay safe, guys." Hilbert cautioned.

[E] The Library - Outside

12:15 AM

After Hilda and Hilbert went down the stairs, Hilda turned the wrong direction.

"Hilda." Hilbert scoffed.

"Sorry… force of habit…" Hilda admitted and began following Hilbert in the correct direction.

[E] Hilbert's House

12:38 AM

Hilda followed Hilbert up the stairs, still seeming turned around. Twig also seemed perplexed. When they opened the door, Hilda found that the entryway was to their left instead of right. From there, the kitchen too was to the left, and the sofa was to their right.

Leaf was the first to go in, but was suddenly surprised by something.

"What is it, girl?" Hilbert asked Leaf before looking towards the table. "What the heck?"

It was his Runestone, but it was glowing a bright blue on the runes. It was emanating some kind of smoke-like substance.

"What's going on with it?" Hilda asked.

"I don't know." Hilbert answered. "I take it neither of us has seen this happen before."

"No…" Hilda replied. "I wonder if mine's doing the same thing…"

"There's a note." Hilbert pointed out, grabbing the note.

Dear Hilbert,

I'm not exactly sure when you plan on returning. I mean, you never told me you had a plan of staying overnight at Dana's again. But that's besides the point. I looked in your room and I found your runestone that you kept from our house in the Wilderness. It was emitting some kind of strange smoke and it's runes were glowing. Please come back as soon as you can. You probably know better than I do about this.

All the best,

Dad

"I hope this isn't a sign of something much worse…" Hilbert muttered.

"Hilbert! Where have you been?" An elf came running in.

"Alice, thank goodness." Hilbert replied.

"And… why is there two of you, but… the other you is a girl?" Alice asked.

"I can explain." Hilbert answered.

Scene 2

[E] Hilbert's House

7:21 AM

Hilda woke up slowly, covering her eyes as they ached from the daylight outside. But it was a little worse than usual. Twig also seemed a little irritated. Hilbert was also waking up in the background.

Hilda found out why her eyes ached so much from the light when her eyes finally adjusted. The sky was blue. She could hardly see the Woffs and birds in the air because it was just a bit too bright.

"That's gonna be tough to get used to." Hilda muttered.

Soon after, Hilbert was up. "Mornin', Hilda." He called out.

"Oh. Good morning, Hilbert." Hilda responded.

The door opened. Someone who looked like a male version of Johanna came in. "You're back, son?" He asked.

"Yes sir. I'm back." Hilbert responded.

"Is someone else in here?" His father asked.

"N-n- don't freak out!" Hilda exclaimed right when Hilbert's father noticed her.

"Th-there's two of you?" Hilbert's father exclaimed seconds before passing out just like Johanna. Hilbert non-verbally expressed his disapproval.

"Right on cue…" Hilbert groaned. "Tontu!"

Then a Nisse that looked like Tontu except with the everse condition popped its head from the wall. "Yes?" it said.

"We're gonna need your help. Hilda over here says that a book we need is in the Nowhere Space in the Library." Hilbert explained right before Everse Tontu went and said. "I know, I know." But Hilbert already knew what she was gonna say.

"*sigh* Alright." Everse Tontu responded.

Heading outside of Hilbert's room, Everse Tontu took notice of the passed out Joseph simply sprawled on the floor.

"What's up with him?" she asked.

"Him noticing two of us was just a bit too much for him. Don't worry, he'll wake up soon enough. The same thing happened with my mum back in my dimension." said Hilda.

They noticed the Runestone that was sitting on the table from last night, with the runes now glowing a greenish color. It also emitted more fumes than before.

"Why is that glowing?" the eversed nisse asked.

"It was blue last night." Hilda informed with Hilbert scrutinizing it.

"But why it's glowing is what I'm asking." Eversed Tontu added.

"Well, my dad found it and wasn't sure as to why it was glowing. We're not sure either."

Getting close to the Runestone, Hilbert attempted at touching it. But he recoiled quickly. "Gah!" He shrieked.

"What's wrong?"

"This thing is really hot." Hilbert explained. "All that tells me is that we should be at the Library finding that book!"

But they first carry Joseph over to the couch where he'd soon wake up before leaving the building with Everse Tontu.

[E] The Library - Outside

8:20 AM

They walked along the street to the Library just as before, but then a nearby shout caught their attention.

"There's the guy that ruined some of our stuff the other day!"

"I may have made a new Great Raven statue but he still scratched it." said a little girl.

"And there it is…" Hilbert groaned before he and Hilda run for the Library and meet up with Hilbert's friends.

The Library - Hidden Room

Hilda led the Librarian to the location. Everse Tontu opened the portal to the Nowhere Space.

Just like before, it wasn't long before the everse Librarian found the book. "My god, this book is in bad shape…" He muttered. "Here you are." He gave the worn book to Hilbert and Hilda.

They sat at a table with the book after the Librarian moved the mirror to the Hidden Room. "Even more pages are torn out than the other." Hilbert groaned.

"But whatever's still here definitely looks identical to the one in my world." Hilda reminded. "Our only hope is that the appendix is there."

They continued to turn the pages. 48-49...56-57… 96-97… 160-161… 208-209… 248-249… 255. "There it is!" Hilda beamed.

"That print is even tinier than the tide mice book…" Hilbert said.

"I agree. And it's the whole thing too…" Hilda agreed. Alice popped out, then put on her zoom glasses.

"There's so much here." Alice remarked.

"Does it explain why the Runestone is glowing?" Hilda asked.

"Indeed. It says here that the Runestone is capable of safeguarding a dimension from potential hostile forces from outside the dimensions. But when another dimension is brought into alignment, the Runestone has to go into overdrive to safeguard the dimension without harming anything. But over time, the Runestone's power will weaken." Alice explained.

"That's not good. How can we stop this?" Hilbert asked.

"Well, there's a footnote here. Oh, it leads directly to the next page." Alice continued. "It says here that trading Runestones between dimensions causes a handshake between them. Maybe that'll make it stop its overdrive."

"How long do we have to do it?" Hilda asked.

"According to this, it'll take 96 hours for a Runestone in overdrive to exhaust its power completely." Alice explained.

"And we're about a day and a half into our time limit. We have about 60 hours left." Hilda announced.

"Don't get too hopeful… According to this, at about the 32 hour mark, the Runestone's power will have weakened enough that extra-dimensional forces might be able to invade. So we have more like about 28 hours left." Alice reminded.

"We obviously can't get my Runestone here at this cycle." Hilda mulled.

"That means the next cycle is our last safe chance before this gets worse." Hilbert reminded.

"Oh no… I forgot…" Hilda remembered.

"What is it?" Hilbert asked.

"I have school tomorrow. I won't be able to be at the Library then." Hilda explained.

"MY RAVEN STATUE!" A voice rang out from outside the building.

"Did you hear that?" Hilda brought up.

"It's that girl with the Raven Statue." Hilbert ignored, but Hilda took a look out the window anyway. She noticed the girl with the base of her Raven statue. But no Raven Statue. Not even a trace.

"It's gone! The Raven Statue she had. It's totally gone!" Hilda explained to Hilbert. Who shortly came out to investigate.

"Where could it have gone?" Hilbert asked shortly before the 11:45 bell rang out.

Scene 3

[E] The Library

11:46 AM

Hilda gets a photocopy of Pages 255 and 256 from the book. Alice tried reading it with her zoom glasses. "It's just barely legible, but it'll do." She affirmed.

"Alright, we're a little strapped for time. What should we do?" Hilbert had asked

"Well, I believe you also have school tomorrow, so, our best bet is to notify our friends to see what they can come up with." Hilda suggested. "Hopefully we can find a way to get these Runestones traded while we're at school."

"But, the question is, who will we trust to do it? Our parents will most likely be at work."

"Maybe the Librarians?" Hilda suggested. "They're always here."

The midday bell began ringing. "Uh oh. The portal opens now. Gotta run!"

"Good luck Hilda! I hope we can figure this out."

The Library - Hidden Room

Midnight

Hilda emerged from the mirror, meeting up with David and Frida.

"Guys, I've got it. The missing page." Hilda announced.

"That's good to hear." Frida remarked.

"Hilbert and I figured out why are Runestones are glowing." Hilda began.

"And why's that?" David inquired.

"Well, that's the bad news." Hilda continued. "We have roughly 28 hours before extra-dimensional forces begin to invade."

"But how?" Frida inquired.

"The Runestones basically safeguard the worlds from invaders. They get weaker over time unless both of them are transferred between worlds at the same time." Hilda explained. "We need to find an opportunity to do that."

"That doesn't sound good at all." David replied with a worried look.

"Yeah, it doesn't sound good but we still have to find a way. And we may need some assistance."

"Assistance? From who?"

"I believe we could trust the Librarian with the Runestone until the time comes."

The three wouldn't have to look as they noticed her nearby and was simply putting some books back into their proper places.

"Excuse us, Librarian." Said Frida

"Hmm? Oh, it's you three again. What do you need help with?" she asked.

"Well, we need you to hold onto this runestone that I have. Because we have to find a way to transfer it with our friend Hilbert while we're at school in the morning." Hilda mentioned

"Hmm, I shall help you with your situation. You may wanna be quick. It's late. I'm closing up soon." The Librarian reminded.

"Sure thing." Hilda responded.

Hilda's House

12:23 AM

Hilda tiptoed so as not to wake up her mum. Twig noticed the Runestone situated on the same table as it was in Hilbert's world. Twig got distressed and hid behind Hilda, who got a good look at the runes. They were still glowing green. But the fumes were starting to get pretty bad. The windows were open to let it out.

Wasting no time, Hilda went for the Runestone. But she nearly burned her hands upon touching it.

"Aah! It's hot." She exclaimed quietly. So she had to grab some pot holders from a nearby kitchen drawer to carry it.

Hilda's House - Driveway

12:27 AM

Hilda emerged from the front door, meeting up with Frida and David.

"What's with the pot holders?" David asked.

"What do you think?" Hilda snarked. David felt the heat of it emanating.

"Whoa! That's really hot…"

Hilda loaded the Runestone onto the basket on her bike, and they all took off for the Library.

"Don't drop it, Hilda." Frida reminded.

Soon enough, they were only a few blocks away from the Library. Then suddenly, a shadowy mass with dark purple illumination struck Hilda's bike, knocking her and the Runestone off of it.

"Oh cruddlesticks!" David cursed.

"Hilda! Are you okay?" Frida cried.

"I'm fine, but what about the Runestone?" Hilda replied.

The Runestone had landed faced down. Hilda nervously lifted it back up.

"Oh no… it's yellow now." Hilda explained.

"I guess… The closer to red…" David began.

"The worse things get…" Hilda finished.

The Library - Hidden Room

12:54 AM

"I will keep an eye onto this runestone for you. Though, do come back when you can."

"Thank you." Said David as him and the others began to leave.

After hearing the door close, the Librarian went and placed the runestone on her desk but not before taking a quick look at it.

"Hmm, I fear of what may happen if those three have to transfer this with that eversed dimension." she said before leaving.

However, as the lady went back to placing books back in there places, something unexpected happened.

The runestone began to leave a crack, with the runes slowly fading to an orange color.

The problems caused by the weakening Runestones truly begin to mount as Hilda and Hilbert are unable to find a good opportunity to transfer them.

To be continued...