Chapter 8: The Library of All Knowledge
I feel as though it's worth mentioning that I'm solo on this project. As in, no outside help. So, add up the fact that this is my first project and I have no help and this story is destined for disaster. Welp, let's see how things go.
The goddesses emerged from the portal and it was certain that they were in Biblio. All around, as far as the eye could see, bookshelves lined the walls and filled the room, and the height of these bookshelves was incomprehensible. They stretched beyond vision, and as Neptune found, flying upward did not change this. The room they appeared in was barely lit, but the spherical room was designed marvelously so that this light was sufficient to allow one to read.
Neptune was shocked. "Woah…what is this place? There's just books everywhere."
Blanc walked over to one of the shelves. "I remember hearing that this place was the library of all knowledge, but I didn't expect it to be this massive. Rom, Ram, stay close. It'll be easy to get lost here."
The goddesses began to explore, and it seemed as though the dimension expanded and contracted as they moved. When they walked for only a few seconds, they found that they had moved a great distance, and walking for many minutes yielded only a few feet of travel. No matter how far or long they walked, though, they were always surrounded by bookshelves, and the only sound they heard was their own footsteps.
The floor beneath was solid, but when looked at, it appeared as though one were walking on the night sky itself. The stars glittered with the same radiance they would hold if they were viewed from any other dimension, and the blackness of the night sky was still as punctual as normal.
Ram walked over to a bookshelf and laid eyes on a book. "Hey Rom, check this out. Do you know what 'Innovations and Applications of Modern Medicine' is?"
Rom walked over and saw the book, but looked confused. "I guess it sounds helpful. Do you wanna try and read it?"
Blanc stood next to the twins. "Be careful, you two. I know it's just a book, but who knows what could happen." She grabbed a book from one of the higher shelves, and suddenly, she felt strange.
When she held the book in her hand, she almost felt as if her body was moving to open it on its own. While this was happening, it was as if she were hearing voices in her head, but these voices were quiet and incoherent. Despite this, it strangely felt as if opening the book and reading its contents would make everything clearer. Subconsciously, she began to turn the pages and read until the worried voices of her sisters shook her awake.
"Blanc, what's wrong? You don't look good."
"Yeah, you look…sick."
Blanc shook her head to shake off the book's influence and forcefully put it back on the shelf. "I'm alright. You two, don't read any of these books."
Neptune ran over. "Why? Aren't they just…books?"
Blanc shook her head. "When I grabbed it, I felt strange. It was as if I were being compelled to read, and I don't think I would have been able to stop if I started. Who knows what would've happened then."
Neptune's eyes widened with shock. "Wha…? I don't believe you!" She grabbed a different book.
The book Neptune laid her hands on was distinctly different from the one Blanc grabbed. It had no title; rather, the entire book was simply covered in a black substance that felt oddly comfortable to the touch. While she held it, she heard voices similarly to Blanc and was compelled in the same way she was, but she could almost understand them. It felt as if reading the book would tell her everything she wanted to know, and give her everything she wanted. Her eyes changed from the normal purple to the same shade of black as the book, and it was then that Blanc, Rom, and Ram attempted to shock her awake.
"Damn it Neptune, I told you not to read that!" Blanc took the aggressive route, furiously shaking Neptune, but to no avail. She was still completely engrossed.
"Neptune! Don't make me hit you on the head! I'll jump up if I have to!"
"Miss Neptune…are you okay?"
Nothing worked. Neptune's jaw dropped open the same way an engrossed student's would, and as she opened the front cover, light poured out of the pages. The voices were becoming clearer and clearer to her. She only needed to read the next page, and she would understand. As if the book could hear her thoughts, the pages turned on their own, allowing her to read more and more. As she read, she became blind to the world around her, and the only thing she could see was the book. This did not bother her, as the only thing she currently wanted was to learn, and this book was the pathway to knowledge.
Blanc turned to Rom and Ram, urgency in her voice. "Stay here. I'm going to go get Nepgear and see if she can do anything."
The twins responded in unison. "Got it!"
Blanc ran through the twisting hallways, making random turns in an effort to try and save Neptune. While she did this, Rom and Ram attempted to 'wake up' Neptune, but nothing they did seemed to have any effect whatsoever, and she continued to read. It appeared as though she was getting more and more engrossed with each page, and her jaw was now completely agape. By now, the entire group had been completely separated, but Blanc managed to find Nepgear, who was shouting out for her sister.
"There you are! Hurry, come with me!"
Nepgear began to follow Blanc, but she was confused. "What's the matter?"
"There's no time. You'll see when we get there."
Nepgear followed Blanc all the way to where Neptune stood. By now, she was halfway done with reading the book, but to an outsider, the book contained nothing. The light being emitted from the pages blocked anyone else from seeing anything but blank pages.
"Neptune! Are you alright?" Nepgear frantically shook her sister in an attempt to stir her, but just as before, nothing came of this action. Neptune simply stood rooted in place, her once-purple eyes blackened and quickly scanning the pages.
It had been fifteen minutes since Noire had last seen her sister. In that time, she had seen and heard nothing from anyone apart from her worried calls for Uni. She began to grow worried that something dreadful had happened to her, and began to quicken her pace.
"What am I thinking? Uni can handle herself. I taught her, after all." Noire tried to convince herself of this, but the dimension had her on edge. This unfamiliar place could hold anything, and she wasn't sure how to handle it.
Noire began to run through the halls of the infinite library, all the while calling out for Uni in a desperate attempt to find her. She made random turns and often times went back the way she had already come, but no matter what, she got no closer to her sister. In truth, she had probably just made more distance than previously existed.
"Your sister is here…she's safe…I can show you the way…" A mysterious, eerie voice resounded in Noire's head and on the ground in front of her was a trail of pages.
"Who are you? Show yourself!"
"I'm right here…in front, all around…I've been here…" The voice seemed as if it was growing distant. As Noire followed the trail, it picked up in volume and became clearer.
Noire suddenly stopped. "How do I know I can trust you?"
"You can't, but…can you trust yourself?"
At this, Noire grew frustrated. She began to angrily run and follow the trail of pages, if only to see whose voice she was hearing. After about a minute of constant running, she began to slow down and grow uncertain.
"Are you actually leading me anywhere? Or are you trying to take me into an ambush spot?"
"I'm giving you what you want…just follow your curiosity…"
Noire continued to follow the trail, but it seemed as though nothing would come of it. She made twists and turns through the maze of bookshelves, and the trail simply seemed to expand as she walked. Just as she began to abandon hope, though, she saw a figure in the distance laying on the ground. As she approached, it became increasingly familiar, and when she was just a few meters out, she could see that it was Uni's dead body.
"Neptune! Neptune!" Nepgear's words fell on deaf ears.
"Rrrrrgh! We're calling so damn loud, Neptune! How can you not hear us?!"
Neptune read the last page, and what happened next was strange. The book floated about an inch above her hand and slammed shut, cutting off the light from within. The tome flew back to the shelf where Neptune grabbed it from and placed itself into the empty slot, leaving Neptune standing where she was. For about thirty seconds, nothing happened and there was only silence. After that moment of tense silence, Neptune's pitch black eyes shut and she fell backward with a sigh.
"Neptune!" Nepgear dashed out and barely managed to catch her. She set her sister down and began to shake her furiously. "Neptune, please, wake up!"
Neptune lay motionless, the only sign of life being the slow rising and falling of her chest with each breath. Even this motion was shallow, though, and Nepgear had to place her head close to hear her respiration and even closer to hear her heartbeat. In this deathlike stupor, Neptune's usual smile was erased, having been replaced with a grim frown.
Vert had long been separated from the rest of the group. For about thirty minutes, she hadn't even heard anyone else's footsteps, let alone their voices. For some reason, she was somewhat curious as to the contents of the books linings the shelves around her, but she knew better than to read them. It was probable that they were cursed in some way, so it was best to completely avoid them. Even as she strengthened her will against investigating them, though, a faint curiosity persisted in her mind, tempting her ever so slightly to grab a book and begin reading.
As she continued walking, she became increasingly anxious as to the whereabouts of the group. It deeply worried her that she had hear nothing of them, and the layout of the dimension made things no better. The surrounding bookshelves made a maze that was nearly impossible to navigate. What was even more worrisome was her Shares—for some reason, she could only feel an infinitesimal portion of her Shares. It remained a possibility that there weren't even enough Shares to transform, but that remained to be seen.
After almost an hour of seeing nobody, she finally encountered Nepgear, Neptune, Blanc, Rom, and Ram, although not in the way she had hoped. Neptune was unconscious and barely breathing, and everyone else was doing their damndest to get her up. Despite the fact that none of their actions had any effect whatsoever, they kept persisting, and their desperate cries echoed off of the endless bookshelves.
