Beacon Library opened at 9 on Saturdays. Not many students took advantage of this, however, preferring to sleep in. But while Karai liked her bed as much as the next person, she also appreciated the quiet, especially when she was researching. The folktale and myth section was on the third floor. She was the only one there. It was dark as she opened the doors, but as she walked down the center aisle the motion activated lights flickered on one by one, as though the room was haunted by ever helpful ghosts.
Karai took a couple minutes to figure out the foreign organizational structure. Instead of just call numbers or authors' names, the system also used symbols to organize books into sections. The book she was looking for had some sort of dragon on it. After another couple minutes strolling through the stacks, she found the book in the very back of the shelves. The spine looked like it was ready to snap if touched. Karai didn't think it had been checked out in a long time.
Lighting and Thunder: An Analysis of Folktales by Aarne Thompson
Lying down on a couch near the window, she began to read.
Kurtzman was at his desk sorting through some papers as the Mighty Mutanimals walked in. The office had regained the same level of clutter and conspiracy boards as it had from before the invasion. Rockwell could see some coffee stained notes for an article about the invasion teetering at the edge of the table.
"Gentlemen, I would like to start off by saying thank you on behalf of all New York. Without you New York and the rest of the world would be under the control of the Kraang."
"Thanks," said Slash. "So what's the bad news?"
Rockwell tapped the picture of a golden one eyed triangle taped to the wall. "Illuminati?"
"Oh no, Bill's all the way on the other side of the country right now."
"Bill?" Pigeon Pete asked.
"Never mind." Kurtzman pulled out some yellowed documents from the pile. "Right now I called you in here to talk about another great threat to Earth. Maybe even bigger than the Kraang."
"Bigger than the Kraang?" Leatherhead narrowed his eyes. "How?"
"Have any of you ever heard of the ancient astronaut theory?"
Rockwell scoffed. "The idea that aliens came thousands of years ago and made Stonehenge? That's what's so important?"
"It's more than a theory." Kurtzman held up an illustration of people in white robes standing on a hill above a crowd. They held glowing staffs in their hands." Thousands of years ago humans from another world came to Earth. All over the world there are ancient stories of people coming from another world, sometimes with wings or tails, sometimes with supernatural powers, to interfere with the lives of mortals. Humans of Earth may even be descended from them."
"Well that was thousands of years ago," Slash said. "Why does it matter now?"
"Because from the information I gathered, these non-Earth humans are coming back. And this time, they want to stay."
When kingdoms are at peace
Yet have no kings
And Creatures live with Man
Yet strife still stings
A warrior queen with mirrored eyes
Renowned for skill and compassion
Will lead her followers far and wide
Against misguided factions
She will guide the people out of darkness into the light
And reclaim their rightful land
None shall fear the Grimm
Victory will be at hand
Karai closed the book carefully. She had to hand it to the people of Remnant. They really know how to tell a story. So far she read about a woman feeding a dead person's liver to her abusive husband-who is subsequently disemboweled by the ghost, a man who doesn't cut his hair or bathe for seven years and somehow gets a wife anyway, and a princess who is almost forced to marry her own father. Her favorite was about a boy who is absolutely unafraid of anything and yet sees it as a bad thing. And then there were these prophecies. Half of them predicted the end of human civilization and the other predicted the end of Grimm.
She glanced at her scroll. It was almost noon now. Karai quickly gathered her things and sprinted to the stairwell. She was supposed to meet up with her team at the front of the school in five minutes.
They were going to see Robin.
"So this so called queen is trying to take over the world?" Rockwell squinted at the photo of a woman supposedly conjuring fire in her hand.
"For now I believe her plans are in the early stages. We have time. For now you should get information before planning the next move."
"What about the Turtles? Should we tell them?" Pigeon Pete hovered over Rockwell's shoulder, flapping his wings anxiously.
"We can handle this," Slash said. He took the picture and studied it for a second. "Whoever these human aliens are, they better watch themselves."