Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
Author's Note: Watched Silence of the Lambs. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector—a sociopathic criminal with class. I also just finished reading The Book Thief. It was an interesting read and it had some inspiration for this chapter. And I felt like having a mini Harry Potter marathon, so got some inspiration from that too.
-/-/-/-
Are we not like two volumes of one book? ~Marceline Desbordes-Valmore
-/-/-/-
They sneak into the library through the front door. Yuan is surprisingly skilled at picking locks and when Kratos asks him where he learned how to do that, Yuan replies that he spent a lot of time with some street performers back home.
The library is not a beautiful one. Its shelves are cold metal and the building is blocky. The tables are wooden with sharp edges. But the books! Leather-bound and paperbacks; thick and short or tall and thin.
Yuan stares. He can't stop. Despite the gloomy atmosphere, the library was incredible. "I've never seen so many books in all my life!" He looks back at Kratos, eyes bright in the darkness. "And they all tell different stories?"
Kratos smiled at Yuan's excitement. "Yeah."
Yuan laughs a little breathlessly, spinning to take the library in. "That's—that's amazing!" He runs his fingers along the spines as he races down the aisles. He picks one at random and opens it. He doesn't read the words, just knows that he can. He's choosing not to read and that makes all the difference in the world.
The half-elf looks back up at his best friend. "D'you think we can read them all?"
"We can try."
They curl into a corner, lighting the candle that they'd brought with them. It's dangerous to have a candle near so many books. Fire was always hungry for paper, for words. But they sit on the floor and read by the flickering light, their voices little more than whispers in the night.
A door bangs open and the book snaps shut as Kratos blows out the candle. They're scrambling to their feet and hiding behind some low bookshelves, hardly daring to breathe.
Lantern light spills across the floor. "Hello?"
It's the librarian, a stern looking older woman with gray streaks in mouse brown hair. Kratos almost wants to peer out, something instinctive wanting to see the person calling for them, but Yuan keeps him back, both of their hearts thudding so loudly that they feared that the librarian would hear them.
But the lantern light recedes in the other direction and Yuan tugs Kratos silently towards the door. Now was their chance.
With a glance over their shoulders to make sure that the librarian was facing the other way, they sneak out the front door and make a break for the dorms. It's only after they're shutting the door to their room behind them, their backs sliding down the wood until they're sitting back against it, that they laugh a little breathlessly as their hearts slow back down.
Twelve year old fear was a powerful thing. Twelve year old relief was exhilarating.