A/N: OK thanks to everyone who has been reviewing, and don't worry, things are going to get bloodier and more tragic. R&R! Thanks SoR

Six

The Royal Library

Sheena was almost asleep. These books were so boring, and so far all they had found on Hethzera were a bunch of myths about him. The library was oppressively hot, and Sheena could barely concentrate. Regal and Raine seemed to be deeply immersed in two different tomes, both of them thicker than Colette's head.

Zelos didn't look like he was concentrating either. He kept on glancing up at Sheena. She wished he wouldn't, it was distracting her a lot… not that she really wanted to be reading these books.

Thus, Hethzera implanted in Prophecy the floating world, which he called Derris-Kharlan. He swore an oath before Martel that he would one day cripple Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, and make the goddess herself bow before him. Martel and Hethzera waged an eternal war against each other… blah, blah, blah… Sheena had read the same thing in at least ten books already, but with different wording.

"Zelos, I thought this crap might be useful, but it looks like that's all it is: crap," Sheena growled.

"Hey, it was your idea to come here," Zelos answered. They still had to put up their 'at-each-other's-throat' routine.

"Ssh!" Raine hissed.

"Raine, we're not getting anywhere!" Sheena pouted.

"But we're learning about history," Regal answered, and Sheena swore he almost smiled. She rolled her eyes.

"We've read like fifty books that all say the same damn thing!" she hissed.

"These books must be forbidden for some reason," Raine answered. "We just have to keep reading."

Sheena sighed and looked around. Books were scattered everywhere around the ground. There were a few lights on, but other than that the library was dark and silent. It was night outside… they had spent the whole day in the Royal Library and had found nothing. From the look in Zelos' eyes, she could tell that he was feeling equally exasperated.

The ninja rolled her eyes and put the volume she had been reading aside, and pulled out another one from the shelf. There were rows and rows of books about Hethzera, but none of them held any dark secrets that might be used against him. This one was entitled Spells of the Lich. She felt herself dozing off as she attempted to read the tiny writing in the thick tome. It gave detailed descriptions and illustrations of Hethzera's spells, and told stories about times he had used each one. How many spells can one guy know? She thought irritably to herself. Sheena tossed the book to the side and got up, stretching her legs. She noticed that Zelos threw her one of his looks, but she didn't care now anyway.

She passed her fingers over the tomes until she came to one that she thought looked 'interesting.' At last she found one. It had red binding and gold lettering on the spine, but the title puzzled her. World to World: An Encyclopedia of the Geographical Landmarks of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. "Hey, guys why do you think this would be here?" Sheena read the title to them.

"Maybe it's out of place," Zelos suggested.

"I doubt it," Raine said. "I've read about this place before… it doesn't sound like the type of library where a book would be misplaced."

Regal nodded. "Perhaps it is hiding something."

"Maybe it's hiding what really makes this place forbidden," Zelos said, almost chuckling at the second connotation he thought of. (A/N: As with before… you don't wanna know what Zelos is thinking…)

"Pull it out," Raine demanded of Sheena.

The ninja nodded and gently took the book out of its place. A small whirlwind of dust met her, and Sheena gasped. A small dark passage was where the tome had once been. She passed the book down to Raine, who placed it carefully on the floor, and Sheena looked into the passage. At the very end, she could see a faint circle of red light. She grimaced as she reached her hand in and took hold of the book. She took it out as carefully as she could; it was quite heavy. When the tome was out of its hiding place she blew the dust off the cover and almost dropped it.

"Sheena, what is it?" Zelos demanded, and he jumped to his feet along with Raine and Regal.

"I think we've found what we're looking for," Sheena said. The others nodded.

The book was clad in black leather and had gold clasping. A glowing red orb was on both the spine and cover, and written in spindly gold letters on the cover was the title. The Secrets of Hethzera.

A/N: OK, well this chappie is a lot shorter than the other ones, and if you're getting bored, don't worry. You're action/adventure/tragedy is on the way.