Shadow set the book down on the bed and closed her eyes. Just a few seconds later she vanished silently. No furniture, dust pile, or bedsheet was stirred. The book lay closed on the bed in the same position as before. It was as if Shadow was never there. Or, rather, she was still there, just inside the book somehow. Or perhaps some other location-defying wizardry nonsense. I didn't have much time to speculate as Shadow quickly reappeared in front of the book just a few minutes later.

Shadow looked at me and smiled with satisfaction. "We managed to work something out. You can have the book for now, feel free to talk to it but take care. It would not surprise me if it still tries something."

Shadow stepped back from the bed, turned to Astro and nodded.

"The ward is still up, in case you want to continue talking in private. It should stay up until you leave the room. I will be in the tavern for a while, in case you need me."

Shadow left the room.

Astro stepped closer to the bed, crossed his thoroughly clothed arms, and stared carefully at the book. His eyes followed it as I stepped forward alongside him and picked it up.

I projected the most mature-looking grin toward the cautious Astro as I could come up with. I wasn't going to back out of this little experiment, but I could at least make a show of restraint to reassure him a bit. I made a point of turning the book over and inspecting every corner. It was leather-bound, titleless on the outside at least, and in relatively good condition. A perfectly good book. Appearances aside, Shadow was probably right that it could still be a threat. I was confident my mental defenses would hold, but I wasn't exactly equipped to deal with magical threats in general.

The outside of the book adequately inspected, I opened the cover to the first page, which turned out to be blank. The second page was also blank. And the third. In fact, the whole book was probably blank. I'll admit it came off as a bit stingy on the book's part, but there could have been some other reason for the lack of typography.

I wasn't exactly sure what the proper way was to communicate with it, so I figured I'd try what felt natural. I turned back to the first page - it seemed more polite to do that - and cleared my throat.

"Hello, book. I'm General Kay Mandy, formerly of the 10th Herobrinian Legion. I'll be your caretaker for a while. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

I looked expectantly at the blank page. Almost immediately, I felt a small pressure against the outer walls of my mind, circling around the perimeter like a foreign scout, testing my mental defenses. It wasn't much of a test. I resisted it almost unconsciously. I swatted it away. Best not to let it finish its scouting rounds, and aside from that I wanted to assert my authority. After that, I didn't feel any other mental presence. I assume the book had its fill. Or perhaps that was the full extent of the book's mental abilities.

Shortly after I repelled the presence, printed letters began to materialize on the page, the ink seemingly rising up from the pages below. The letters formed a short message:

Hello, Kay.

I smiled a little at the sign of self-awareness from an otherwise seemingly inanimate receptacle of learning. I was rather eager to make use of the book's abilities, but first impressions were important, and I needed to establish some boundaries.

"Apologies for pushing away your little probe. Not very hospitable of me, but I always worry about visitors, so I have a great many ways to keep them out. It's not malicious, I just have to make sure my house is in order before I let you in. Please, do be patient. Anyway, do you have a name? Something you prefer to call yourself?"

The ink from the letters sunk back into the page, and was replaced with another message.

I have no name. You may call me the Book.

"Keeping it simple to begin with? I like it. Do you mind if I just call you 'Book,' then? Without the 'the'? It's just a bit easier to work with."

The ink dissolved and reconfigured rapidly.

No.

"Excellent!" I declared.

I turned toward Astro, who I assume had been reading the shifting letters and thus was up-to-date on the conversation. Merely talking to this book in my possession would probably net me more than a few points in the quirkiness department. Possibly a few in the insanity department as well. Especially in public. Someone had to challenge Warnado and the wonder-twins.

"By chance, are there any other ways we can communicate that don't involve me speaking aloud by myself?"

I could communicate directly with your thoughts, as I have done with Fristad. Or alternatively, you can write on my pages.

"Good to know those options are available. I'll stick to speaking for now, might get a pen later."

While I was confident in my ability to resist, I didn't trust the book enough to read my thoughts, so the other, more discreet option was off the table. Perhaps with a mutually beneficial exchange of information, that trust could be gained over time. But not yet.

"Why don't you tell me a little more about yourself?" I encouraged. "How did a fine receptacle of literature such as yourself end up in the Nexus? And how exactly does a book learn to communicate in your world?"

The ink on the page dispersed and rearranged slowly. The book seemed to take a moment to deliberate before the ink settled into a longer written passage.

My existence has been long, and mostly painful. For millennia, I had drifted through the void, completely alone, my words and pages slowly burned by its destructive flames. Eventually I found Fristad, and for a time we were friends, although since the intervention, one could say we've had a falling out.

Most of my knowledge has existed since my beginning, including my knowledge of how to communicate. The rest came from Fristad.

"So… you simply popped into existence in the void? No memories prior to that?"

That is the extent of my memories.

"By Jeb…" I tailed off, feeling a knot of pity twist my stomach. "That sounds like an awful way to end up spending most of your existence. I'm sorry."

"And quite a long existence at that," Astro added. "Thousands of years is far too long for anything."

Pity aside, I suspected that the book was hiding information. Maybe the book landed itself in the void for a reason, or perhaps some important chronological detail was left out. I certainly didn't expect the book to reveal everything. I had my own secrets, Astro had his. The book's past put its decision to control and manipulate Fristad into perspective, although it certainly didn't justify it.

The revelation of an existence mostly spent in an unforgiving void wasn't exactly a good conversation starter either, so I decided to change the subject.

"Astro, are you sensing anything magic coming from the book? Any wizardly insight?"

Astro concentrated. "It's… a bit like the energy that comes off an endling when they teleport. However, it has a slightly different quality and it's continuous. I think Fristad mentioned that the endlings in his world were different from the ones in the Nexus."

I am not an enderman or anything associated with their kind. The fact that my covers wield their energy is unfortunate. I am only grateful they prevented me from burning into nothingness long enough for me to escape the void.

"Is it just me, or am I picking up some disdain for endlings coming from you?" I pointed out.

I despise them.

"Hah! We'll get along famously. Wait… Fristad was an enderman at some point and I'm getting the impression you did that. How does that fit into your worldview?"

We did what we had to. Not using that form would have been a meaningless gesture of vanity.

"I see."

I looked out the window and saw the sky above the village growing darker. Another day had passed, and I was now in possession of a book of unknown power, whose emotional impact on Fristad, Amanda and others was hard to overstate, and whose true motivations were only beginning to be uncovered. I didn't know what to expect from the book's backstory, but thousands of years of suffering and loneliness? Was I way in over my head? Did time work differently there? Was Fristad secretly hundreds of years old? Okay, I'll admit those last two sounded a bit too ridiculous.

Astro said, "It's getting late. We should eat something."

My own stomach protested in unison. "The day certainly ran away from us. Maybe we should join Shadow in the tavern. It was nice to meet you, book."

There is no need for departing words. I assume you want me to come with you.

"That's technically true, although I'm going to put you away now. Don't attempt to start a conversation. I'll come to you."

I closed the book and put it in my pocket. The past aside, it seemed there was a lot to learn from the book.

I followed Astro outside of the room, and was greeted once again with the sounds of evening activity.