"Now, the Wailing Star can have a number of interesting effects on the Library."
"Yes sir. I've read everything I could find on the phenomenon." Amity said, following at a comfortable pace behind Gary, the assistant Librarian. He could be a bit high strung when it came to the library, at least compared to Prentiss, who was working the front desk this morning and rarely seemed to react at all. She wasn't sure how long the both of them had worked at the Bonesborough Library, but she had heard rumors that the Head Librarian Malphas has been its custodian for well over a century, well into the Savage Ages.
"Good. Then perhaps you can tell me what you've learned." Gary said, continuing on.
"Of course." Amity continued, finally feeling a well of confidence return after the last two weeks. "The Wailing Star is said to pass on the anniversary of Emperor Belos' rise to power when he put an end to the Wild Magic ways. It's effect on the Bonesborough Library is unique in that it can not only physically manifest stories in every book that's opened, but it also regenerates the tomes on the library shelves. All except…" she paused as they passed the massive set of double doors that led into the Forbidden Stacks. "All except what's kept in there."
"Correct. The Forbidden Stacks are home to the oldest texts, and it is forbidden for anyone but Malphas himself to access. It's also home to an ongoing rodent infestation that the Head Librarian refuses to deal with. Fortunately, the Wailing Star also chases them all back inside for a time, giving us a reprieve." Gary said, shuddering as a tiny white mouse scurried into a crack of the doors. "I imagine they don't like having their food fight back."
Amity nodded, a hint of curiosity keeping her staring at the Forbidden Stacks with wonder before she shook her head. Follow the rules, Amity. She couldn't afford to lose this opportunity.
"Come along, Ms. Blight. What else?"
Amity hurried along to catch up to Gary before falling into step. "The texts say that it can be dangerous to cast spells while the Wailing Star's effects are present in the Library. It's been theorized that the Wailing Star is composed of all the wild witch souls that were… uhm, petrified… which accounts for the crying sound it makes when it passes, as well as how magic can have unforeseen effects."
"Also correct." Gary said. "Well done. I'm sure the library will be in good hands tonight."
Amity beamed at the compliment, hugging her Otabin: The Book Maker Stories for Witchlings book to her chest. "Thank you, sir. I won't let you down." She had been looking forward to this night for months, since she had first discovered what effects it could have. While the effects weren't entirely predictable, the chance to chat with The Good Witch Azura herself; someone she looked up to and could identify with and could understand exactly what she was going through… it was too good of a chance to pass up. She would make sure all the books were in place on their shelves, the floors were cleaned, the Demon Decimal cabinet was put to bed, and lock herself in her private study with a hot tea and her Azura book series. Even if she was fictional, Amity would finally have someone she could talk to other than her diary.
"I hope not. This will be my first day off in months. Please do not contact me or Prentiss unless it is a dire emergency." Gary instructed, and Amity nodded with complete understanding and determination. "Now, I believe those toddlers should be congregating any minute now, and if you wouldn't mind… I have a student tour to give in an hour, and I can hear someone shouting." He sighed, walking away toward the study room where a faint 'Sorry!' could be heard.
Amity continued to the Kid's Corner of the library where she could hear the various witchlings playing. She entered the doorway, casting a glance around the room. A little blonde witch girl with pigtails, a single tooth in her mouth and the beginning of a dark unibrow was laughing, playing with blocks with a witch boy with a tuft of red hair sticking out from under his black cowl and an ever present string of mucus that hung from his nose. A third demon child with three eyes, a soft beak and stark pink skin was lying on the large black cat carpet in the center of the room, coloring a picture of an orb shaped beast demon with eye stalks. The last toddler was Braxas, who was looking at the covers of the various Necronomicon texts on their shelving and poking at the blinking eyeballs of the stitched together covers.
"Ms. Amity!" Braxas shouted when he realized she was there, and ran over to hug her leg.
"Hello, Braxas! I'm happy to see you here!" She replied, patting him on the head. Despite their harrowing adventure in Latissa together, she was happy to see him attend the library. She spent a half hour playing with the four witchlings, spelling words with abomination goo on the wall, learning their names, and decorating the room in magical points of light that made her smile. She shook her head to clear it of thoughts of watching Luz summon the same lights with paper, and cleared her throat. "Why don't we all take a spot on the floor for story time?"
"Aw!" Cried one of the witchlings, while Braxas and the little blonde witch named Zuzan cheered. The fourth witchling, Amity had learned was named Chuck, remained coloring their picture on the floor, seemingly ignoring Amity and the other children as they collected beside them.
"Now, this is a book I read when I was as young as all of you." Amity said, moving a small chair to sit in front of the witchlings. She presented the large picture book she brought from home with the small, gentle, long eared creature on the cover. The little blonde girl pointed at an easel that had been set up earlier beside where Amity was sitting, with a giant sized Otabin picture book set on it. Amity nodded and smiled. "That's right! Today, I'd like to read you all one of my favorite stories about Otabin." She said, flipping to the middle of the book and opening it for the witchlings to see. "Otabin Makes a Friend."
"Pay attention! Gah!" Mologros, the little red haired witchling sniffed, slapping a hand on Chuck's coloring page.
Amity cleared her throat to gather their attention, smiling fondly down before beginning to read.
"Bookmaker Otabin was sad and alone, he had no friends to call his own. He spent his time in a dungeons maze, binding books for others all his days. Until one night when the moon shone full, Otabin's thread was stuck so he gave a pull." She read, getting into the rhyming cadence, while wearing a mock worried look. "Well down came the ink, it fell with a clink! And down came the pen, it wouldn't write again! Otabin cried 'No! How will I write? There is so much book making tonight!' A Chicken Witch gathered, as well as a Tin Boy, both looking tattered." She smiled, turning the page. "'We're here for you!' they both said. 'We'll get you through!' Otabin grumbled and sent them away. 'Nonsense! Just go and play! I need to brew ink! I need a new pen! How else can I make books again?!' The Chicken Witch and the Tin Boy were not deterred. Otabin paced, 'This is absurd!'" Amity narrowed her eyes as though angry.
"Here is your pen!' the Chicken Witch clucked, giving a feather with a pluck. 'Here is your ink!' the Tin Boy squeaked, giving his oil that leaked. Otabin saw the Tin Boy brewing, and asked, 'What do you think you're doing?' 'We're you're friends and we wanna help,' said the Tin Boy with a yelp." Amity smiled, meeting the eyes of each of the kids. "Otabin smiled and paced the floor. 'I've never had real friends before.'
'Then we'll be your first,' the Chicken Witch clucked. Otabin couldn't believe his luck.
So, Bookmaker Otabin surrounded by friends, bound a book of friendship and that's the end."
With the closing of the book, all of the children jumped to their feet with a cheer. "Thank you so much!" Exclaimed Zuzan as Amity set the chair and easel aside. They were laughing as they said their good byes, and Amity began to follow them out to get to her next task.
Braxas approached, giving her another hug, taking Amity off guard for a moment. "Good bye Ms. Amity! Thank you!" He said, and Amity looked down at him with a smile.
"Thank you, Braxas! See you next time." She replied as the little demon ran off with the others. She breathed a satisfied sigh until a blue and white object caught the corner of her eye and she turned for a better look. Somehow, the Human had gotten into the room without her noticing earlier and was inexplicably hiding in the Encyclopedia section of the Kid's Corner behind the Manga shelf. "Ugh… it's you." She said, instantly feeling uncomfortable and hugging her book to her chest.
"Amity!" Luz announced, standing up as nonchalant as one could after being discovered hiding in the children's section of a library. She clumsily tried to lean on a shelf, knocking a graphic novel onto the floor before nervously continuing. "Reading to kids? Wow! It looks like this sour lemon drop has a hidden sweet center…"
Looking away for a moment, unable to hold her cold facade after just having enjoyed reading to the kids, Amity replied. "It's for extra credit." She bent down to pick up the book Luz had knocked onto the floor and began walking back to the center of the room, picking up the coloring book as well. "Don't get your leggings in a bunch."
Much to her irritation, the human followed. "Hey, I could help with the kids." She paused, then exclaimed, "We could take turns reading… and do voices!" She said, obviously just voicing her thoughts as they came to her as her voice became strangely mechanical. "I do the best monster voice!"
Amity slammed the trio of books she had been carrying onto the small table at the back of the reading area. "Human!" She shouted, turning to look Luz in the eye. "Do you see me going to the Owl Shack and bugging you while you… fry up Owls?" She asked. This was her one shot at impressing the other librarians, including Malphas and fate had decided that Luz the Human had to arrive and mess everything up. "Okay, I don't really know what you do there, but every time you come near me, I get in trouble." She said, and it was getting difficult to keep her voice low with her frustration growing. "Just leave me alone!"
Luz frowned, and it genuinely seemed like she hadn't been attempting to tease Amity, but had misread the situation. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry…" she said, backing away. Her arms hung at her sides and she slumped, looking defeated. She turned away and mumbled something as she walked toward the entryway, gently thumping her forehead with a fist out of frustration.
Amity's eyes widened out of surprise, and she reached out a hand as if to stop her, maybe to apologize, but stopped. Confusion was settling in to Amity's thoughts, and she suddenly wasn't sure exactly what this human wanted with her. She seemed fun, but troublesome; determined, but scatterbrained; juvenile, but at the same time showing moments of maturity. Were all humans so… chaotic?
"Just breathe, Amity. Hopefully, you'll never see her again." She whispered to herself, turning back to clean up after the children's play time. She cursed herself for letting Luz foul her mood after looking forward to the day for so long, but she couldn't help but grumble at every little annoyance. A page was slightly torn from this book, some crayon got onto the cover of this book, and she couldn't find her personal Otabin book until she remembered she had put it down with the graphic novel and coloring book. Moving to sort through them, she felt her boot press down on a half empty Apple Blood box, squirting the thick, smelly fluid onto the black cat carpet. She clenched her fists and held her breath, wondering what else could go wrong.
"Hey, Mittens!" Her older brother's voice snapped her eyes open, reminding her that to ask such a question only seemed to invite more disaster. Her face reddened at the irritating nickname, and all she could let out was a growl. She looked toward the entryway where both of her older siblings were talking to Luz, and Edric held up the lunch bag she hadn't used since she was ten; a large, bright pink folding bag with a cute canine pup face for a flap. "Mom says stop forgetting your lunch." He continued, and Amity stalked her way toward the group. "And stop being a jerk to your friend."
Amity snatched the bag from her brother's hand. "She is not my friend." She said, meeting his eyes. The girl seemed hurt by Amity's words, but she didn't care at the moment. She was ruining a perfectly planned out day with her mere presence.
Emira slung an arm around Luz's shoulders and smiled. "Yeah, makes sense. She seems to cool for you." Her sister's words stung a bit, reminding Amity that even in a family of five, how alone she could feel.
"I am?" Luz asked quietly, looking unfamiliar with older teens granting her such compliments.
"Ugh. You can leave now!" Amity said, pointing at Luz. "All of you!" She turned on her heel and left, moving back into the Kid's Corner to finish cleaning. She was likely already late for her other duties. While Luz and her brother and sister continued to chat, Amity tried to ignore them. She didn't know enough about Luz to know why she would be at the library, though her vague mention of Azura at the Covention was intriguing, but she knew Edric and Emira hated the library. Would they really have come just to deliver her lunch? Maybe, if their mother was insistent. But why would they be talking to Luz, unless they were eager to congratulate her on making a fool of Amity in school and at the Covention.
She looked back with an annoyed glance to find that all three of them were gone again, and she couldn't help but wonder what they were all up to.
After summoning some abomination help to clean the Kid's Corner room, Amity began sorting through books in the Young Adult section of the library. Like most of the texts throughout the library, they were all thick with ornate covers, a byproduct of how most tomes were mass produced on the Boiling Isles, literally fired from Opus Stone in the deepest of kilns. She couldn't help but feel their leathery texture and sniff their old book smell with each one that she placed from the return cart and placed on the shelf until she came upon one that smelled of… grass? And bitter beans… Amity inspected the cover more carefully, rubbing a finger down the cover. Why was there blood?
She opened the back cover of the book to see who had signed it out last, and saw Eda Clawthorne's name scribbled in. She rolled her eyes and growled. She simply could not get away from the influence of Luz and the Owl Lady, it seemed. Amity drew a small spell circle, summoning up a tiny, palm sized abomination and set it on the cover of the book to scrub it clean and she set it back on the cart. Why The Owl Lady would have taken out a book titled Forty Days of Decay, she had no idea, but she thought it best to move it on to the Adult Readers section.
As she moved along the aisle, she could hear the sliding of books behind her and she stopped, glancing around for any one else in the immediate area. Seeing no one, she continued pushing the cart along, placing books on each shelf as she came upon their proper place until again, the feeling of something moving behind her made her pause. She rolled her eyes dramatically, then spoke up, "Okay, Mrs. Twitty. Is there something I can help you with?"
The ghost of an elderly lady slowly began to appear, moving books about from shelf to shelf. Mrs. Eleanor Twitty had long been a staple of the Bonesborough Library, though she herself couldn't exactly say how long she had been there. Unfortunately, she often tried to help the Library staff by reorganizing books where she thought they should go. She smiled at Amity, returning a book to where she had just gotten it. "Oh, Amity! I'm glad you've finally returned." The old lady had been somewhat like a grandmother to Amity since she had been coming here, first finding her crying as a child shortly after her friendship with Willow ended years ago. "Where is that little Park girl? Did you bring her with you this time?"
Amity frowned, as Mrs. Twitty's memory seemed to fade in and out from time to time. "No, ma'am. Uhm, Willow hasn't come to the Library in quite awhile." Likely because of her. Amity had to be honest with herself; knowing that Willow gave up her love of the library because Amity frequented it might have hurt the most. "Are you excited for the Wailing Star tonight?" She asked, changing the subject as she returned another book to the shelf.
"I'm afraid when you get to be my age, dear, hearing the voices of the imprisoned doesn't bring much comfort." Eleanor explained, and Amity's ears drooped in embarrassment.
"Right. Sorry." She said. Eleanor was one of the few people she actually felt comfortable apologizing to. Whether it was just from her age, or the fact that Amity felt she could trust her enough that the action wouldn't get back to her parents or held against her in judgement, she wasn't sure. "I guess with all the stories that come to life, I forget."
"Oh, don't you worry dear. You're young. Enjoy your time as much as you can." The old woman smiled. "I see you in here so much studying quietly all alone. It makes me worry."
Amity managed to turn up one corner of her mouth in a half hearted smile. "All for nothing, it seems." She said, choking down a lump in her throat. "I don't think I'll be getting into the Emperor's Coven after all. I… I kinda embarrassed myself last week."
Eleanor scowled. "Pshaw, child! Not one person in all of creation only has one path set before them. Doors to new worlds open up all the time. Don't be afraid to go through them."
Amity nodded, but said nothing, discovering she was clutching the bottom of her shirt in her fists. The spirit floated closer and wrapped her ethereal arms around Amity's shoulders. The ice cold feeling that came with the gesture wasn't particularly comforting, but the sentiment was. "Thanks, Mrs. Twitty. I'll try not to be."
Her ears perked up at the sound of Gary giving his tour to new Library users three aisles away when he cried out as though he was about to have a nervous breakdown again, shouting something about what in his life was real any more. Amity let out a sigh. "That poor boy. He really needs this holiday." Eleanor said, placing her hands on her hips and smiling down at Amity again. "You'd best go see to him."
She set the next book she was holding aside for the moment, circling the aisle to find Gary sobbing, and the three students he had been guiding looking around awkwardly. Above him was the Fiction - Non Fiction sign that had been written in chalk, with the 'Non' obviously rubbed off. "Sir, why don't you go sort books with Prentiss. I will clean this up." Amity said, helping Gary to his feet.
Gary nodded and sniffed. "Thank you, Ms. Blight." He said, gesturing to the tour. "Now then, let's finish this up, shall we? Next, I'll show you our Demon Decimal System." He said, before adding under his breath, "Just four more hours, Gary… Four more hours."
Amity drew another spell circle in the air, summoning a larger Abomination out of the cracks in the stone floor. Her concentration was improving over the last week, since the Covention and the trip to Latissa, as well as the power she was able to channel into her spell circles. She could sense the tiny abomination still cleaning the book she left on the cart, even as the current one grabbed her by the waist and hefted her frame high over its head in order to reach the sign and repair its wording. Pranksters in the library weren't necessarily common, but it happened enough that she's had to deal with the effects from time to time. While at her lofty height, Amity surveyed the Library floor, spotting two green haired heads sneaking their way through the maze of book stacks. "Of course it had to be you two. You'd think a pair of illusionists would be better at hiding their trail."
She instructed the abomination to lower her and sink back into the floor. Having a large abomination tromping through the library wasn't ideal, and she would have to deal with her prankster siblings herself. For nearly twenty minutes, Amity chased the pair around until she finally managed to corner them where Prentiss and Gary were restocking books on the other side of the Fiction and Non Fiction sections. A faint blue glow could be seen taking freshly shelved books and setting them back on the cart to be reshelved again in a constant cycle, and Amity growled. She traced a spell circle, ready to conjure up an abomination that would contain them when she spotted Emira draw her own, quickly moving Gary from atop a ladder where he was organizing non fiction texts on the second floor to where Prentiss was restocking fiction tomes on the floor.
Amity grimaced, her eyes growing wide as she quickly moved her circle to summon an abomination at the base of the ladder where Prentiss now stood. As the elderly librarian fell from his unfamiliar perch, Gary was already into another nervous breakdown when he realized he was once again in front of the Fiction shelving, falling to his knees and sobbing. Prentiss let out a shout as he fell a fair distance into the soft abomination muck that Amity had managed to gather in time.
She could hear the laughter coming from behind her and she spun around, ready to point out her brother and sister for their pranks when she also caught sight of Luz, running along behind them, and she froze. She simply couldn't figure the human out. She seemed so concerned earlier when Amity had told her to get lost, and that they weren't friends, yet now she was pulling pranks around the library.
Helping Prentiss to his feet, Amity asked, "Are you alright, sir? I know who's behind these pranks."
"Yes, thank you Ms. Blight." He replied, brushing the abomination goop off of his robe. "We certainly need to put an end to this."
"They went toward the Demon Decimal Cabinet." she said, eager to finally see all three of them be on their way.
"Oh dear. Someone already fed one of them today. It left quite the mess." He said, leading the way toward the cabinet. Amity followed, and spotted the trio just as Edric blew dust off of an old tome into the one eyes faces of the cabinet, causing them to sneeze out all of their organizational cards.
"Hey!" Amity shouted as they danced in the rain of paper. She stood next to Prentiss with arms crossed, glaring at both her siblings, and Luz, whom somehow looked shocked that she was suddenly in trouble.
"Wait, where's Gary?" Prentiss asked, searching for the other assistant.
"Coming!" Gary called, sliding into place beside Amity before catching sight of the mess that had been made of the Demon Decimal cabinet. "Nooo!" He cried again, falling to his knees and sobbing.
Prentiss stepped forward, grabbing Edric and Emira by the cowls and herding Luz along with them through the lobby and out the large entryway of the Library. Amity walked to the staff exit on the side, moving quietly to the front of the building where Luz remained, watching Edric and Emira walk away from the library.
"Bye." Luz shouted, waving at the other pair of witches. "This is great!" She said quietly, just loud enough for Amity to hear from her hiding place behind a pillar. "First I befriend the siblings, then I befriend the Amity." She squealed to herself before bounding down the steps.
Amity felt furious. Why was this human so intent on forcing herself into her life?! She did nothing to Luz, at least at first, to warrant her constant interference! Why couldn't she just go back to the human realm, or the Owl House, or wherever she was from and… her vision began to blur and narrow as she realized she was holding her breath again, pushing as much of her emotions into the pit of her stomach as she could. "Whew… almost passed out." She said, steadying herself. Still, they were gone for today, and Amity had even more duties to do than she had planned before being able to relax for the night.