After their conversation Ara had taken to brewing some potions in what she described as her "Alchemy Lab" while Minerva finished eating. The beef that Ara had brought to eat was amazing and Minerva had finished it rather quickly.

Outside of the small room that Minerva had apparently spent the past two weeks in was a narrow hallway lined with paintings of what she assumed to be past royalty. Ara led her in silence until they reached what appeared to be a banquet hall. The room was enormous with a vaulted ceiling adorned by two large chandeliers lit by candles. There were two tables that extended the length of the room. The floor had a burgundy runner that covered the area between the tables. The walls were lined with tapestries depicting supernatural events and battles, all adorned with gold thread. They were standing on a balcony overlooking the room, which held what appeared to be a throne. On the far end of the room was a double staircase that led up to massive oak doors. Yet the room was dreary and everything within it was covered in dust.

"This is the grand hall," Ara began, "but as you can tell it has been in disuse for some time. I quit throwing balls quite some time ago for they are dreadfully boring events filled with nothing but impotent ramble about politics." Ara sighed.

They continued up another staircase and through many hallways, turning so many times that Minerva was completely lost in this maze of a castle. It rivaled even Hogwarts in size, but unlike Hogwarts this castle seemed dead. Not once did they encounter another person.

Ara stopped at a plain oak door and it opened of its own accord. What was within made Minerva's jaw slacken. There were thousands of books lined on shelves that reached the ceiling. Next to the door was a fireplace with two chairs set around a table in front of it. Minerva could only dream of a collection such as this. There were books that were in pristine condition and others that were so worn and old that it appeared that even touching them would cause them to disintegrate.

"This is my library," Ara smiled, "I have books spanning from modern times all the way back to the Mereithic Era. Not even the College of Winterhold has as many tomes as I."

"Mereithic Era?" Questioned Minerva.

"It was the first era of recorded history, when the Nords of Atmora were the first humans to settle Tamriel. It began in ME 2500 and ended in ME 1. The First Era was 2,920 years long. Followed by the Second Era which was 896 years. The Third Era was 433 years long. We are currently in the Fourth Era. We are in the 201st year of 4E." Ara explained. "My oldest books are approximately 6,450 years old. Of course, I keep those relicts in glass cases and only touch copies of them."

Minerva look at Ara with wonder in her eyes, the entire history of this world was held within these very walls! "May I?" It was barely a whisper but Minerva's inquiry brought a small smile to Ara.

"Yes."

Minerva took off in search of something that she could read and much to her surprise, most of the modern looking books were in fact in English. After both women had selected something of interest they sat down in front of the fire to read. Minerva had selected "Brief History of the Empire" and was intrigued by the history of this region.

Minerva looked up from her page to rest her eyes for a moment and her eyes were drawn to the woman sitting across from her. Ara's brow was furrowed in concentration as she read something in some other language that Minerva had never seen before. As if she could feel her eyes on her, Ara looked up from her page and shut her book.

"I have always found Stronach to be a boring author also," Ara admitted while gesturing to the book in Minerva's hands.

Minerva sat down her book and replied, "it's all very fascinating to me, it seems no matter what universe it is people are all the same."

"What's your world like?" Ara locked eyes with her.

Minerva looked down at her lap and took a deep breath.

"I don't know what to say about it. It's all I've ever known. We are still recovering from a terrible war. Both the Muggle and magic communities were at war within themselves and the cleanup is ongoing." Minerva took another slow breath.

Ara looked at her with understanding. "My world has been shaped by cataclysms, on a slow descent into ruin, all at the whims of the supernatural. It is both beautiful and frightening." Ara looked deep into the fire next to them, "you will see more of my world than you bargained for, once you are completely healed we will begin to gather the materials necessary to get you home. Unfortunately, that means a lot of traveling."