Libris Fabula
'Cause I don't care for your fairytales
You're so worried about the maiden though you know
She's only waiting on the next best thing…
"Fairytales are coming to life?" Eve said, pacing the Annex floor.
"Yes," Jenkins said dourly, "and your skin's taking on a greenish hue," he fired at Clara, who just glared at him, still clutching her broomstick. "But why should I be surprised?" he added in an undertone, repressing a sigh.
"The news cuttings from the clippings book," Cassandra said suddenly, startling them all, "they were all fairytales - Snow White, the Three Bears, Cinderella" -
- "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," Jacob jumped in, "Red Riding Hood" -
- "And the Emperor's New Clothes," Eve interjected, only for Jenkins to hold up his hand, halting her.
"You need to find out who or what is causing this," he said, folding his arms across his chest, "whilst you still have time."
"What do you mean while we still have time?" Jacob said, frowning.
"You're all infected," Jenkins said simply, "though some are showing symptoms sooner than others," he added, glancing at Ezekiel who was now smelling a rose, his eyes closed in a state of beatific bliss.
"What, we're going to turn into fairytale characters?" Eve said in disbelief.
"I don't know what he is," Jenkins said, gesturing to Ezekiel, "but Clara's turning into a witch, and Jacob's the Huntsman. As for the rest of you, who knows? That's why you have to find out," he said, clapping his hands, making the blackboard behind him fill with flowing handwriting, "and sooner rather than later."
"How soon?" Cassandra asked.
"Very soon," Jenkins said.
"Can that very long list help us by any chance?" Cassandra pressed, peering over his shoulder.
"These are magical items, curses and paradoxes that could possibly cause fairytales to come true and attack," Jenkins said, turning to the blackboard, "but most of them are not the answer we are seeking - the Spear of Destiny, Blackboard's Chest, the Tree of Confucius" -
- "Treeeee!" Ezekiel trilled again.
- "The Goose with the Golden Eggs," Jenkins continued, glaring at Ezekiel, "the Trident of Poseidon, the Golden Fish Scale, Lantern of Diogenes, The Singing Sword of Conmre Mer, Homer's Sandal, The Tell-Tale Heart, John Henry's Hammer, Aztec Smoking Mirror, Fenrir's Chain, Mother Goose's Treaty, Re-animation Elixir, Book of Thoth, Loki's Spear, Tesla's Death-Ray, Pipes of Pan" -
- "You said we didn't have time," Eve reminded him.
"No, I said you did," Jenkins corrected her, "as in you do."
"Get to the point, Gandalf," Clara snarled.
"If we cross off all the artifacts stored in the Library," Jenkins said, clapping his hands together, causing chalk crosses to appear on the board, scoring out his words, "since being untethered from this reality makes accessing them rather difficult, and as there's been no report of fire or flood in the area, we can cross off even more," he said, clapping his hands again, "as these are displays of nature's power. Plus Immortals prefer Europe this time of the year" -
- "It's the Libris Fabula!" Ezekiel squawked, startling everyone again.
"Would you stop using these idiots as your instrument!?" Jenkins shouted up at the ceiling.
"So it's not Mother Goose's Treaty?" Cassandra said quickly, exchanging a glance with Eve.
"Yes," Jenkins said, spreading his hands wide, "they never did forgive Beatrix Potter for re-writing that bloody history."