Chapter 5: Venturing into Tolbi
(Disclaimer: I dun own gs. (or Little Britain.)
PG – whoo! Chapter 5 without a major story breakdown!!
Ivan – whaaa?
PG – sometimes b4 ive been writing stories then half-way thro I forget whats happening next.
Ivan – but you have a story plan?
PG – yeah, I kno!! (in Andy from Little Britain's voice)
Ivan – isn't that advertising?
PG – nah, I heard the series ended.
Ivan – oh.
PG – but isn't it strange how even ppl hu haven't seen Little Britain are still quoting their guts out? The show's captured the heart of the nation!
Ivan – while in countries where they don't show it, readers are staring at their computer screens in confuzzlement…
PG – yeah I kno.
Ivan – lolol.
Pg - =D
Ivan – thanx to any reviewers that I dun kno about or haven't reviewed at the time of saying this.)
Venturing Into Tolbi
"So…where's this library again?" Sheba asked.
The three Jupiter adepts, Bethany, Sheba and Ivan had been sent into Tolbi to retrieve the book Kraden wanted. He had given them precise directions into the heart of Tolbi's palace, and also told them to cloak themselves as not to be caught. So now they tiptoed through the guarded streets, keeping to the shadows and evading the shifting guards. When they at last reached the palace gates, they were pleasantly surprised to find the front doors unguarded.
They must think that intruders will be caught before they reach this point, Sheba thought.
The entrance hall of the palace was dimly lit, spacious and empty. The three uncloaked themselves to allow their psynergy to regenerate.
"Ok. From here, we have to go through…" Ivan thought for a second, looking around at the many doors leading off the hall. "Up that staircase,"
He pointed to a small staircase, roughly to the left of the forward most part of the room. Walking over to it, he ascended, signalling for Bethany and Sheba to follow. Atop the staircase was a long corridor with many partitions. It felt hushed in the corridor as the three adepts walked along, Ivan gently muttering directions to himself lest he forget them and get lost inside the immense palace. Reaching a red carpet in the middle of the level, Ivan looked ahead, noticing the door Kraden had mentioned. Heaving the great double doors open, he found himself in the Throne Room. Pausing slightly, he frowned.
Surely the one taking position of Lord of Tolbi would be here? Why is this place so derelict? I remember when Babi was the one who sat in that throne…what would he do if he saw the condition of this place now…
From the great room, Ivan turned left. Behind a jutting of wall was a downwards staircase. After making sure the other two Jupiter adepts were still following, Ivan walked down the staircase. There was one solitary door down the staircase, which Ivan opened. Inside were an elaborate bed, a bookcase, and a desk, all decked in silks and other finery. Walking up to the bookcase, Ivan started searching for a book he'd been instructed to find. Finding it, the pulled it out slightly. There was the sound of shifting stone, and the bookcase grunted, moving over, revealing a hidden staircase. Smiling to himself, Ivan grabbed a torch from one of the brackets on the wall, and stepped down he rough, uneven stone into a corridor hat looked as if it had been carved out if the bedrock beneath Tolbi itself. Waving the torch into the dark passage, the Jupiter adept lit some of the unused torches on the crevice walls, and lead the way into the semi-darkness. For at least five minutes the three adepts walked, relying on Ivan's memorization of Kraden's directions. Suddenly, Ivan stopped dead still. Sheba and Bethany bumped into him, and looked where he was looking.
"Babi's personal library," Ivan breathed.
There was a big sign above the double doors, which read 'LIBRARY – access only with Babi's permission'
"Man, that's obvious, Ivan," Bethany whispered.
Sheba giggled, and Ivan pushed the library doors open furiously. The three gasped. There were thousands of rows of books, shelves of pigeonholes with scrolls poking out. A small desk near the door held great leather-bound volumes of directories.
"We should probably start looking there," Bethany said, pointing to the directories. "What was the name of the book again?"
"Prophecies of War, written by Kiefga Amorazi,"
Bethany started inspecting the spines of some of the directories for the 'A' author section. Finding the book she needed, she opened the huge manuscript, and began searching the pages for the name, Sheba and Ivan helping by peering over her shoulders and checking the list, too. Finally finding the name, she scanned across the page to the reference number.
"Reference number 1220," She said. Looking over at the actual shelves of books, she searched for the sign with the 1220s on it. Sheba saw it first, and walked over to find Kraden's book.
"Ready to get us out of here again, Ivan?" Bethany asked, watching Sheba disappear behind a wooden bookcase.
"Umm, kinda," Ivan laughed. "Even when I first came to Tolbi and inside the palace, I never imagined it was this big…probably 'cause most of the doorways were locked or in inaccessible places…"
Bethany laughed too, and there was a glitter of mirth in her eyes that Ivan had never seen before, that temporarily eased the lines of tiredness around her eyes. She was about to say something else when a scream from behind a bookcase dragged their attention sharply back into focus of their mission. Looking round wildly, they traced the scream to behind the bookcase Sheba disappeared behind. Ivan and Bethany ran over, and found –
"Help!!" Sheba cried, trying to wrestle two grown men off her arms.
There were a total of five armed men, who had seemed to have pounced upon Sheba from behind a nearby bookcase. Having taken Sheba by surprise, the men had been able to grab her arms and bind her psynergy. Kraden's book lay forgotten on the floor.
"Spark plasma!!" Both Bethany and Ivan cried in union.
The two men holding Sheba dodged the blast, but the thrashing bolts caught the other three. They recoiled, allowing time for both Ivan and Bethany to slash with their swords. Out of the corner of her eye, Bethany noticed one of the two guards pull on a torch bracket on the wall, shifting part of the wall round, revealing a thin passage. The two dragged Sheba down the path, trying to avoid her screaming and kicking. The wall slammed shut after them.
At least I know where they've gone…well, the general direction, Bethany thought, casting another spark plasma. Man, we'd be sooo screwed if these guys were Venus adepts….
Noticing that their comrades were gone, the three guys Ivan and Bethany were fighting scarpered away behind nearby bookcases. When Ivan tried to pursue them, he turned the corner to find them gone.
"What the hell was that?!" He cried.
"Obvious," Bethany muttered. "It's our missing guards,"
"But…what are they doing here, of all places? Why not stop us at the door instead of waiting for us to come right into the heart of the palace?"
"Well…if Alex has captured Tolbi for himself… he might have suspicions over who would be brave enough to try and break into Tolbi…if we were attacked at the door, there's chance we might be able to retreat back out of Tolbi. If you leave the corridors unarmed, lull your enemy into a false sense of security, and wait until they're in the heart of the palace, it's harder for them to escape…"
"He wants intruders alive," Ivan concluded.
"And maybe he himself might know something about the War of Alchemy," Bethany added.
Ivan nodded gravely.
"Now we've got the book, we need to rescue Sheba. Do you have any idea where she went?"
"One of those torch brackets opens up a secret door," Bethany said. "I think it was this one…"
Pulling on a bracket, the wall suddenly swirled round, and the pathway became visible.
"Let's go," Ivan said, taking the first step into the unknown.
(Ivan – can't I just leave Tolbi behind, and leave Sheba in there? U kno, Pirate's Code?
PG – 1- ur not a pirate. 2- in that movie ur quoting, they decided it was more like 'rules', the pirate's code. 3- it screws my story plan up if u and Bethany neva free Sheba.
Ivan - . so I'm gonna be in Tolbi for about another chapter, eh?
PG – yeah. BTW readers- READ THIS BIT PLZ!! I actually went into Tolbi in my GS cart to research the layout of Tolbi palace. How's that for detail!? Only Isaac doesn't kno which book to pull out to get to Babi's Library, so u can't visit it in the game. Ahwell. But u can go up to the movey-bookcase. ^.^
Ivan – man…Im gonna try that, to make sure ur telling the truth…R&R, ppls….)