Episode 9: For The Sword, Chapter 2

"What time is it?" Stone's voice echoed ahead of him down the Library corridors. "Baird!"

"In here!" Colonel Baird called back. She and Flynn were at their desk, going over Jenkins' list of avatar talismans.

"You said you'd wake me up!" Stone barked, storming into the office and picking up his pack.

"If there was any change in Cassandra's condition, or if we needed you here," Baird reminded him. "There wasn't and we didn't. You needed the rest."

"Yeah, well how much rest? 'Cause I don't wear a watch, this place has no windows, and no clocks, and the alarm on my phone didn't wake me since now my phone seems to have died!" Stone ranted, throwing the offending article onto Baird and Flynn's desk. Flynn picked it up.

"Seems fine to me," he said, unlocking the phone and checking the alarms. "Maybe you slept through it?"

"I did not sleep through..." Stone noticed the open alarms screen that Flynn was showing him and another penny entirely dropped. "Hey! Is Jones still hacking my iPhone? Did he tell you my password? Did you switch my alarm off?"

"Er, probably, possibly and no, I did not. That one was not me," Flynn replied.

"And it wasn't me or Jones either," supplied Baird. "Jones is out on a case and we've both been with Jenkins and da Vinci between the last time I saw you and coming though here with this."

Stone opened his mouth to say something then stopped. The words 'it must have been someone' died on his lips. He looked around him and up. "Was this you?" Stone yelled at the ceiling. The books rustled uncomfortably. "Did you mess with my phone?"

"Stone, you're scaring the books, calm down," said Flynn gently, but firmly. "The Library only wants what's best for you. It would have woken you if there was any need."

"Need?" Stone turned on Flynn. "What about what I need? I need to be there. I don't care if nothing's changed, I still need to be there!"

"Hey!" Baird yelled. "We are all worried about Cassandra right now! But we have a bigger problem on our doorstep and we all have to put that first! Everyone needs to be ready for when this storm breaks. Everyone. Including you."

"I'm doing my share!" Stone countered.

"You're doing more than your share, and you know it!" Baird argued. "You want to take your research to Cassandra's bedside, that's fine. You want to spend your nights there instead of here, that's fine too. You want to only check in once a day, well, hey: even that I'm okay with. What I am not okay with is you running yourself into the ground trying to do your share of the work and hers! I've seen the piles of books you take with you. There's no way you could get through the number you do unless you're working every hour of the day. Not unless you've suddenly developed a talent for speed reading. You need to slow down. You are burning yourself out."

"What I need is something to distract me from the fact that my girlfriend is lying there, unconscious, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it!" Stone retorted.

"I get that!" Baird replied. "But throwing yourself into the research like this is not helping! What if you're so tired, you miss something?"

Stone paused and sighed. "Fine, you win, I'll try and sleep more. Now if you don't mind, I have research to do."

He turned to go, but Flynn called him back. "Actually, it might be more useful if you focused on a few of these items," he said, handing the list to Stone. "We're going after Loki's Spear, since we know who is planning on using it, and we think we know when. Pick a couple of the others to look into. Maybe even go after them."

"Alone?" Stone raised an eyebrow at him.

"I could ask Jones to help you," offered Flynn.

Stone pulled a face. "I'll manage."

"Take your pick," sighed Baird, nodding at the list. "We think they already have Fenrir's Chain, and we're going after the spear, but the rest are all up for grabs."

"The Crown of Hel, Hyrm's Helm, Surt's Flaming Sword," Stone read down the list. "I'll make a start on these three. I get a lead on any of them, I'll go after it."

"Just be careful," Flynn reminded him. "These are talismans. Like that hat Jones 'borrowed' from Sa... Nick."

"Note to self," murmured Stone. "Do not try on the crown of the queen of hell. Yeah, I got it."

"And call us if you need help!" Baird called after him as he disappeared through the back door.

XXXX

"Must you do that here?" Leonardo grumbled. "Would your precious laboratory not be more comfortable?"

"I am perfectly comfortable where I am, thank you," replied Jenkins, scratching out another item off the list he had been working on for the past four hours.

"Where you can keep your beady eye on me, no doubt," muttered the maestro. "It is clear still you do not trust me."

"My eyes are neither beady, nor on you," murmured Jenkins, cross-checking an item in a book by his side.

"Hmm," da Vinci glared suspiciously at the Caretaker. He straightened the gloved on his hands and went back to rummaging in the box before him.

"The cauldron of rebirth," muttered Jenkins, under his breath. "No. No, that only works if they're dead first. Although it is the Serpent Brotherhood we're talking about..."

"Do they intend to rule in silence?" Leonardo enquired, breaking in on Jenkins' thoughts.

"Huh?" Jenkins looked up, his brow creased in confusion.

"The Cauldron of Rebirth," the maestro pointed at the notepad in Jenkins' hands. "You were considering adding it to your little list there. You're right: it will work perfectly if they don't mind being dead first. Unfortunately they would also have to not mind being mute afterwards."

"Ah, yes, indeed," Jenkins looked down and crossed the item off his list.

"I could be of greater use adding to that list of yours than acting as your clerk," complained Leonardo. "We are wasting time filing away these items. They were quite happy in their boxes and now we know what is in each box."

"It needs doing and you are the best placed to do it," Jenkins replied, without looking up. "Rod of Asclepius..."

"Wonderful," scoffed da Vinci, "if they have been bitten by a snake!"

"That's the Staff of Moses," murmured Jenkins, still focussed on his notes and research. "The two are commonly confused but quite different in their ability. For a start, Moses only claimed to talk to God. Asclepius was the son of one."

"Ah, so it is for the apotheotic link that you are including it," da Vinci nodded. "Pray tell: which of Hercules many relics do you intend to include for him? The lion-skin Cloak? His Bow, perhaps?"

"I have the Bow, actually," replied Jenkins easily. "I also have the Well of Wishes, the Sword of Talos, the Book of Saraswati..."

"Inuit Raven Claw?" Leonardo queried. Golden Elixir of Life? Shroud of Turin?"

"Those too," Jenkins nodded. "If you are planning on checking all of my work we will be here all day."

"Only attempting to provide aid and assistance," said da Vinci, holding up his hands in defeat. "I am sure you are perfectly capable. You'll have every possibility written down from Arthur's Armour to Michaelangelo's Miniatures."

"Don't be ridiculous," sighed Jenkins. "There was never anything apotheotic about Arthur or his armour."

Da Vinci folded his arms and waited.

Jenkins frowned at him, then the penny dropped. "Ah, the Miniatures! Yes, I didn't have them!"

XXXX

Jones opened the door and stepped through. He stumbled into the office with a clatter that made Flynn and Eve look up.

"You took your time," Baird commented. "Everything go okay?"

Jones hoisted the statue that was weighing him down. "All present and correct. No worries."

"Take her through to da Vinci and Jenkins," said Flynn. "They're still in the Library itself."

"In a bit," nodded the thief, setting the statue upright on the central desk. "Let's see if she helps with the caseload in here first. Goddess of Wisdom and all that."

"We do not profit from the artefacts, Jones," called Baird, watching him saunter back up the stairs.

"Oh no, never that," grinned the Librarian. "Utilise in the course of our work, though..."

Flynn and Eve watched the youngest Librarian disappear among the bookshelves.

"Tell me," mused Eve, turning her gaze to the statue. "Does Minerva, Greek Goddess of Wisdom, like being used as a study-buddy?"

"Well, she is the Goddess of Wisdom," sighed Flynn, looking the statue up and down. "Who knows."

"There are days when you really hope he's right," groaned Eve. "There are days when you really hope he's wrong. And then there are days like this. Days when you really have no idea which would be the lesser of two evils!"

The next ten minutes passed quietly enough, with Flynn and Eve only expecting violent reprisals from the Greek Goddess every few minutes. They had started out at every few seconds. Then the sound of hurrying feet, so seldom heard from Ezekiel, sounded on the upper level.

"What's the panic?" Flynn called as Jones sped past.

The thief skidded to a halt in the doorway and looked back round. "New case," he said, brandishing his clippings book. "Need to talk to Jenkins."

"Can I help?" Flynn asked, rising to his feet.

"Maybe," shrugged Jones. "How much do you know about the Singing Sword of Conaire Mor?"

XXXX

In the darkness of the Fairy Tower, the faint blue glow had now covered the bed and all its contents. It crackled soundlessly, pulsing and dancing in the cloud-strewn moonlight. The shimmering cloud of light grew bright, obliterating details, then vanished. On the bed, below the covers, the sleeping figure stirred.