Wizzardly Accusations
Chapter Seven- Beyond the Rabbit Hole
Rincewind followed the figure as it walked among the aisles, rather grateful to be away from Death, who wasn't really very good company to the living. (1) The figure he was following suddenly disappeared from view, and Rincewind, looking ahead, found that this was because the floor dropped off at a very sharp angle an undefinable distance ahead. Once he did reach it, he peered over the edge and saw that it wasn't an edge at all. It was the floor, and he was somehow standing on the wall."What the…"
There was the unpleasant sound of the universe suddenly catching on, and what was Rincewind's idea of down was vetoed for a different one. The wizzard reeled as the floor became a wall, and ended up falling on his face. He stood up just in time to dodge the Luggage as it jumped down from the wall, having somehow avoided the universe's notice by considering it a floor, too. (2)
Rincewind adjusted his battered hat, dusted himself off, and looked for the figure he was supposed to be pursuing. Finding that the figure had most definitely disappeared, he decided to fall back on one of the few skills he possessed- random wandering. He continued on in the general direction of forward, which might have been ahead of him or perhaps behind. Either way, he came upon one very strange thing, even for L-Space. It was a window.
It wasn't just any window, either. It was a window that wasn't connected to a wall, but was merely floating innocently off to the side. Rincewind couldn't help taking a glance in it. He then downright stared.
When he looked in the window, he saw himself staring back, and got the strange, distinct idea that that Rincewind was the same as him, and that the Rincewind that was peering into the window on the wall behind the other Rincewind was actually him peering in on himself, but was at the exact same time entirely different people. After getting the impression that realities were currently twisting around themselves, in a very disturbing way, Rincewind abruptly pulled back from the window. Some things just weren't worth it. The merging of different universes was one of them, even if it might've given Rincewind the change to finally meet that lucky Rincewind he knew existed in time to get a sharp object.
He hurried away from the strange window, continuing on in a forward direction that he hoped was actually forwards. As he looked further into the distance, he saw the figure once again. It had stopped by a row of bookshelves, and, even as Rincewind broke into a jog, then a run, it never came any closer.
Then, suddenly, he felt an odd tingle run from his hat to his shoes, and brilliant octarine sparks shot out from the magical interface, and then Rincewind went from L-Space to Normality in less than a second. The Luggage followed at a much slower pace- magic didn't affect sapient pearwood, after all, and neither did this. Because of the sudden change in normality, the force of it sent the wizzard flying forwards, and this time the figure did, in fact, get closer. Very rapidly.
Rincewind cannoned quite literally into the figure, which gave a yelp of surprise and pain at being suddenly hit into by a startled wizzard. Rincewind landed face up on the wood floor, hatless, staring at the ceiling and trying to assemble his thoughts into something coherent. While he was trying to regain something resembling sanity, the figure he had crashed into was already on its feet. Rincewind glanced over, and his hands flew almost on their own at first to his head, searching for the hat that lay a few feet away, then he lunged for his precious hat.
A slim hand darted down, snatching the wizard hat just before its owner reclaimed it. Rincewind found himself staring at a pair of delicate feet in equally delicate sandals, then his eyes pulled themselves up to the hem of a robe sewn with gold thread, then up the intricately embroidered robe to the wrists adorned with jade bracelets, and then to the nametag written in…pictograms. Agatean… pictograms, ones which meant 'Librarian'. Rincewind gulped. And here he had thought his day couldn't get any worse.
The wizzard looked up at the girl. Her face was round and pleasant, with little wire glasses and dark, slanted eyes. She had pulled her straight black hair up into a tight bun, and, for reasons unknown to Rincewind, had stuck little colored sticks in it. They were a bit thicker than the hair-stick-things he had seen on his last visit to the Empire. The Librarian couldn't have been older than eighteen, and she wasn't paying Rincewind the least bit of attention. She had a considerable amount of attention, an almost needle-point gaze not unlike Vetinari's, only to a far lesser extent. She was currently focusing only on the battered hat, or, more precisely, the scorched and faded lettering on the hat.
"Might you actually be the Great Wizard?" she asked very softly.
"Erm…" Rincewind slowly climbed to his feet, and brushed the dust off his robes. "Yes. Sort of. In a way."
"Then you already know that you're in grave danger," she said, dusting the hat off very carefully. She handed it back to him.
"Really?" he said, then added, "I'm not surprised."
"I have much to explain to you," she continued. "My name is Jade Flower. Come with me."
Rincewind stopped dead in his tracks. This card had been played too many times before- after all, who would trust some random person? She was suspicious, anyway. Who just wandered around L-Space, even if she was a Librarian? It didn't fit.
"Let me put it this way," she said. "It's either follow me or go back into L-Space. I know the way through my Library to yours, Great Wizard, information which I obtained at my peril. Do you?"
He hesitated. Sure, he didn't know the way back and doubted if he'd be able to find it, but still… it might end up being better than following her. Then again, it might not. That's how things were in L-Space. He thought of Death, and his little message of gloom and doom. How long would this road go?
He sighed inwardly. Still, going back to unfamiliar L-Space was generally considered suicide. He really didn't have much of a choice.
"Fine. Fine, I'll come with you."
"Good," there was a hint of a smile on her face. "Follow me. And be silent. I do not want to have to explain this…event to the guards."
Without another word, she turned and began to walk out of the aisle of books and scrolls. Rincewind shook his head, following behind Jade Flower. He thought as he walked, replaying the conversation in his head. This Jade Flower was used to being obeyed immediately and without question. She might be a Librarian, but she sure as hell was something else, too. This was turning into a very complicated game indeed. Rincewind had the distinct impression that he was playing some strange game, but no one had bothered to explain the rules, and when he did figure them out, they changed on him, and still no one said anything…
He shook himself out of those thoughts. It wasn't as though they were going to help him at all.
The Forbidden Palace had changed little from the last time he had been there. There were still the huge jade vases, the empty rooms filled with priceless treasures, the 'nightingale floors' that squeaked as the two of them walked over it. Jade Flower stopped suddenly, her head cocked to one side, listening. Faint squeaks could be heard coming from around the corner ahead. The Agatean Librarian pushed Rincewind roughly behind a vase, and began to look busy reading a scroll she pulled from one of her wide sleeves.
Two guards passed down the corridor, squeaking as they went. As they caught sight of Jade Flower, they immediately know-towed. The one was nearly gibbering. She cast them a vaguely irritated glance, and waved one slim hand. The guards stood and hurried down the corridor without hesitation, seeming to be quite glad to be away from Jade Flower.
Something's rotten in the Agatean Empire.
Rincewind had little time to brood on this, however, since he was snatched out from behind the vase by Jade Flower. She began to walk more quickly through the halls, heading somewhere unfathomable to the wizzard- perhaps his memory of the Palace wasn't as good as he'd thought. (3) Eventually she came up to a rice-paper door, glanced down the hall, and then pulled the door open, dragging Rincewind in as she went.
It was not so much a room as an entire house- there were at least a dozen rooms, all designated to, as it seemed, the Agatean Librarian. There was a sitting room with a huge crimson rug with gold embroidery and a low table on it made of some shiny hardwood with red velvet cushions trimmed with gold tassels. Invaluable tapestries were carefully hung on the rice-paper walls while two delicate china tea cups with an intricate pattern traced in gold and jade sat on the table. Scattered throughout were other luxuries that Rincewind had only read about, and that was only in the one room. As he looked from one room through to others, it seemed like only a few were actually used, while the others were more or less storage for priceless treasures. There was also a gentle tapping sound coming from the paper door, and the silhouette of a tea-girl with a tray.
Jade Flower grabbed Rincewind by the arm and quickly pulled him into another room.
"Stay there!" she hissed. "The walls are paper- you might be seen if you don't stay still. Don't make a sound!" She shoved down hard on his shoulder, pushing him into a crouch behind a sofa before walking back into the other room and delicately readjusting the jewelry on her wrists.
"Enter."
(1) He was famous for it. Or, perhaps, infamous, depending on how you look at it.
(2) Of course, the Luggage managed to carefully avoid the universe's notice in just existing in general, but that never stopped it before.
(3) Not surprising, really, because it was seen while running at a high speed away from guards.
(A/n- Once again, the editing system-thing is being wacky and won't let me put in brackets now, so I'm down to parenthesis. Parenthesi? Is there a plural to parenthesis? ...Anyway, back to something relevant.
It took me a while to get this up, I know. Sorry. I'll try to get these out faster, but school's a bum and swim practice is evil, too, and I end up leaving home at 5:30 a.m. and getting back at 7 in the evening dead tired. Not fun. I will try to have the next chapter out soon, though.
And, as always, feedback is appreciated immensely. And I will give you all cookies, too.)
