BOOM!
"Does she always make this kind of noise when she's in there?!"
BOOM!
"Yes, yes she does. Do not worry too much about it though, you'll find ways to get used to it."
BOOM!
Joe flinched as yet another unholy noise erupted from behind the closed door on the other side of the area, a door that led to where his new boss was currently rescinding in. His boss, who must've been at least a decade younger than him, and who was apparently someone he didn't even know from the Corporation, and who he was also obligated to fight under against the various Cityfolk that visited the Library, according to what the information Angela implanted in his mind said.
To be perfectly honest, this was not the position he thought he'd be in after dying back in Branch O-5681, still feeling the chilling presence and hopeless situation that ended with those Abnormalities taking his life as he did his damndest to make sure his subordinates made it out alive, going out in a blaze of glory.
He'd like to think it did the trick, but the world he was brought back to didn't tend to be so kind, and his moment of glory had less impact now that he was, well, alive. Or undead, considering he seemingly died once. He still didn't know how to process all of the new information he now had.
At least there's a familiar face here with him, a benefit to his friends working in the same horrible Corporation where he worked, and hopefully, there were many more to come if his new boss was kind enough to take requests.
BOOM!
…IF she didn't end up blowing herself up in that room she barricaded herself in.
"Seriously, does she do any work on this Floor at all that doesn't involve being a mad scientist from a sci-fi film?" Joe grumbled as he readjusted a book that was nearly knocked off its shelf from the shockwaves that came from behind the door.
Suho simply shrugged, "She's diligent enough." She defended the Patron of Psychology smoothly enough as she put in another book its proper place, "Even if her mind tends to go off to places at the worst possible times. Her brain just works like that from what I've gathered during our time together."
"So we're working for a bit of a nut, eh?"
"No, we're working for a complete nutcase. There's a huge difference my friend." She waved a reproachful index. Hey, being accurate was still important, no? "But she and Angela are close, so I'd suggest trying to make sure she doesn't hurt herself when she blows her room up, otherwise Angela may or may not have a few words to share with us…" She ran a finger across her neck, getting the point across. Sure, she didn't know Angela all that well, but from what she heard, her wrath wasn't exactly something you'd wish on your worst enemy, much less yourself.
As if to prove her point, the door to the room their boss locked herself in exploded as a bright blue light temporarily blinded the entire room.
And after a minute or two, it died down, revealing a dust-covered Powder holding Fishbones and grinning so wide it seemed as if her face would break at any moment.
"Fishbones has been upgraded, lady and gent!" Powder roared in triumph as she held the deadly yet crude looking missile launcher into the air with both hands - as if she was holding up a battle trophy. After waiting for the non-existent applause to die down, the blue haired Librarian skipped toward where her wary looking assistants were spotted at. "Look at my baby boy's touch up! Do tell: what do you guys think?"
"I'm worried about the fact you needed at least twenty six explosions to upgrade your weapon, Miss." Jo was the first to speak, his honesty clashing against the bluenette's optimism, even if it made her expression drop a little.
"Oh, shut up; can you upgrade my little Fishbones without at least twenty six explosions?" She pointed an accusatory finger at her newest Assistant, who seemed so dumbfounded by the question that the answer escaped him. "That's what I thought!" Powder, however, used his silence as a way to boost her way of thinking as she affectionately rubbed her cheek against her newly upgraded weapon. "Who's gonna wreck my enemies and send them to oblivion? You are!"
"...You were right about the nutcase part." Joe whispered to his colleague.
"No need to tell me." Suho deadpanned before coughing into her fist, bringing the attention of Powder from Fishbones to her personally, "Not that I don't approve of you keeping your weapons in shape and ready at all times, but you've been in the room more often as of late, only coming out when there are Guests or when Miss Angela personally called you."
"So? Can't a gal get some private time with her favorite weapon of mass destruction?" Powder huffed, puffing her cheeks towards an unimpressed looking Suho, "I tinker a lot, as you should already know, Suho. What's so surprising about me doing what I do best?"
"I never said it was surprising. I said it was strange of you to be so focused on it when you usually keep a better balance of your personal hobbies and your duties as a Patron Librarian. I feel the need to say something before you tip too much into doing the former at the cost of the latter."
Powder squinted her eyes, sizing up Suho. "You talk like I'm hiding some big fat secret."
The Assistant Librarian raised an eyebrow at this accusation, putting a hand at her waist. "I also didn't say anything about that. If anything, you're the one who brought this up." She retorted, her face having the slightest bit of smugness in it.
"Well, good, because I was just saying this to test you." The Zaunite put a hand on her first Assistant's shoulder, not elaborating on this 'test', smiling proudly. "I, in fact, was going to perform my very important duties and…check on Malkuth!" She suddenly exclaimed, as if a lightbulb just turned on above her head. "After all, Patron Librarians should check on each other, and as you see, Suho, I take my responsibilities very seriously; I upgrade my weapons to meet the guests and organize tactics with my fellow colleagues." To no one's shock, Suho knew that this was an in-the-moment decision made to shut her comments down, but still, she merely rolled her eyes at the display; even if it was just to have her quiet down, Powder visiting the other Patrons was, indeed, part of her duties.
"Truly? If so, I suggest you do not delay your meeting with Malkuth with your tinkering. Am I to assume that you two set up a meeting beforehand?"
"Why of course!" Powder responded a bit too forcibly, her eyes shifting left to right rapidly as she began backing away towards the door that led to the Floor's exit, "It just so happens to be happening, like, right now. Be sure to keep things neat and tidy by the time I come back. Laters!"
Without another word, Powder ran out of her own Floor, leaving behind one headshaking Suho and one flabbergasted Joe.
"Please pick your jaw off of the Floor, Joe. These books aren't going to alphabetize themselves"
"...How did you do that?" He looked at her, barely picking up his jaw. It almost felt like it was going to fall from its place and land on the ground at any second.
"Our Patron Librarian is a lot of things, but she's not entirely irresponsible, and she does like to show that off." His colleague flicked a wrist, walking towards the nearest bookshelf. "Come now, if we finish quickly, we'll have some time to relax before she comes back and blows more stuff up in there." She pointed at Powder's private, smoke-filled room with a thumb.
"Coming." Joe followed quietly, mentally noting everything he was just told. Perhaps dealing with the bluenette wasn't going to be all that bad.
Maybe.
On the Library's long, spiraling staircase, a pair of footsteps echoed throughout the large, wooden structure as they tapped the stairs that they rushed against, jumping the last two steps on each Floor as their owner hung onto the staircase's post to maintain her balance, the sheer momentum of her rush helping her spin using the post and immediately putting her on the new flight of stairs. Only two more Floors before she was at Malkuth's.
Okay, maybe running down the halls like she was still a child wasn't the best of looks for a woman of her prestigious status, however recently it was granted to her, but it got her to her destination quicker, right? Besides, she was, for better or worse, more energetic than she probably should've been, so it helped her get some of the energy out of her system.
At least, this was the excuse the blue-haired Librarian gave herself as she rushed down the stairs with Fishbones strapped tightly on her back. Probably should have left him back on her Floor before going on to meet Malkuth, but 1) That would mean leaving him all by himself and that simply wasn't an option, and 2) she was in a rush to get away from her Assistant's prodding about her tinkering and her totally unintentional neglect of her Patron Librarian duties..
Said tinkering was fueled by her last encounter with -Up-My-Hole-Yesod, his cold and frustrated words still bouncing around in her head like a stress ball that was thrown at mach 3 in a room made of caoutchouc.
"Will you be able to do the same if Angela's ways prove to be too bloody of a road for you to walk?"
The question resonated in her mind, the purple-haired Patron's words echoing throughout her mind as she pressed her teeth together. Not only was his attitude immensely annoying, what further upset the bluenette was that he hadn't been entirely unreasonable. For as much as she hated to admit it, he did have a point: what was she going to do in such a case?
Powder was no fool, or so she liked to think, and she didn't lie to herself about what Angela was doing with the Library. She had come to terms with the way she ran the Library and treated the guest, and in a way, it reminded her of Zaun's swindling methods, only with a tad bit more death involved. Some Guests got absolutely no pity from her, but for others… she had to admit, they were simply chasing their own goals, much like Angela was. This was all just so confusing at times, although the teenager had given far too much of her focus to thinking, forgetting about the stairs she was descending and causing Powder to suddenly take a sharp breath and a misstep.
"W-Whoa!" The Zaunite cried out, flapping her arms about and flying off of the stairs if it weren't for the staircase's post which she held onto as she descended. Gah, the nerve of that guy, acting like he knew everything from the moment he got into the Library…!
The problem was that there wasn't a point at which it seemed like he was lying.
As much as Powder loathed to even entertain the very idea itself, it didn't change the fact that Yesod knew Angela for way, way longer than Powder did and he didn't seem like the type to bullshit on any type of topic - bullshit that someone like her had grown more than adept at sussing out given the years of living in the shady, hive-like streets known as Zaun, where there was always someone willing and ready to take everything you had just around the corner. And Yesod didn't seem to come across as such a person…even if he wasn't particularly pleasant to talk with.
Unfortunately, that meant that what he had said about Angela had some truth one way or another - and the idea of viewing Angela negatively in any way was practically blasphemy in the Librarian's head. That very concept of her caretaker being remotely capable anything Yesod accused her of doing just didn't jell well in her head, not when she took in Powder at her lowest for nothing in return at all, not when she gave so much to her when so many others would have thrown her out the minute they heard of her ultimate fuck up.
Hell, during their long seven years of waiting, she made more mistakes and required more intensive care, and the older bluenette neither threw her out for those catastrophic mistakes nor was she obligated to have given the superb care Powder got from her, not to mention all of the time the two them spent together simply talking, chatting and joking…
Even thinking about it made Powder feel guilty, ungrateful even, for having those thoughts in her head and even viewing Angela in such a malicious light.
'You mean like with Vi?'
Her left fist automatically shot up and punched the side of her head causing Powder's entire head to snap sideways. Hissing at the pain, Powder rubbed it delicately, praying to whatever gods there were that it wouldn't bruise.
She was not ready to go there. Not even remotely soon.
"Jeez, when did my life get so complicated? I'm too young to even be thinking so much emotional crap...I should be out there causing mischief and throwing toilet paper at home or playing with marbles or doing whatever I should've spent my teen years doing…" Powder bemoaned to herself with her eyes closed. Sighing dejectedly, Powder took a step down the stairs only to bump into something, or rather, someone.
"Guh-!" The two of them took a step back, looking at whoever they bumped into. "Hey now, this isn't the kind of place to be having your head in the clouds." Came in the perpetually sardonic voice of Roland, ironing down his outfit with his hands where he had been bumped. "If this was a road and I was a car, you'd be dead right that instant."
"Yeah, I guess." Powder mumbled, causing Roland to raise a surprised eyebrow, clearly expecting a different kind of response.
"As your workmate, I feel obligated to ask what's the matter? You're looking…unmanic for Angela's favorite not-so-sane Patron." He looked at her, noting the modified weapon she had on her back.
"What exactly do you want me to say, man? I'm too into my feelings to bother too much." The Patron of the Psychology Floor shrugged halfheartedly.
"Eh, it's rare for the two of us to be around one another without Angela being here." The Fixer shrugged, pocketing his hands nonchalantly. "I thought you might want to speak to someone, seeing as you can't always meet her nowadays, it seems." Though he didn't seem to note that he was the principal reason for this lack of meetings. "And, 'sides, shouldn't all good co-workers take care of one another?" If Powder had thought his voice was sardonic before, then it was ultra sardonic now.
"You sound like one of those street hustlers back at my home who try to sell someone a ripoff version of a Topsider product." Powder noted pointedly before something else came into mind, "What are you even doing here out of Angela's sight? Does she trust you enough to let you out of her sight now? You do know she knows where you're at even if you're not in her sight."
"The boss lady made that very, very clear before I left just so I don't get any 'funny and foolish ideas in that worn down head of yours'. Ever the careful watcher." Roland stated, repeating the warning with air quotes. "Still the illusion of having some privacy is better than nothing for a poor ol' hostage such as me."
"If you say so, it's your balls in her hands, not mine." Roland let out a quick laugh at that. Technically speaking, Powder's could never be in Angela's hands considering, well. She couldn't hold what didn't exist.
"Too true." Schooling his expression, the black eyed Fixer gave Powder an appraising look, "So, feelin' like spilling your thoughts, or…?"
It was Powder's turn to raise an eyebrow, finding it suspicious that it was Roland of all people reaching out with a branch like this. Still, it wouldn't hurt to voice some of those negative thoughts before meeting with Malkuth. What was the worst that could happen? At least she wouldn't let anything spill out in front of anyone important; if Roland knew what was good for him, then he wasn't going to repeat what she was about to tell him to anyone until she gives him permission.
"Alright, I'll bite for a little bit." Powder declared while licking her lips, taking a moment or two to work out what to say, "You've got people in your life that you've wholeheartedly trusted, right?"
"Yes, though my job before this didn't exactly encourage such." The taller man flicked a wrist. "They were far and few, but they were there, if nothing else.
"Well, when you trust someone like that, you don't want to see them in any bad way, right? It wouldn't be fair to do that to them, given what they've done for you to give them so much of your trust. So…what happens when you get confronted with the idea that they might not be exactly the best of people and there's some stuff that they did that really, really didn't sit well with people that have no reason to invent those bad parts about someone you trust? How exactly is someone supposed to feel about that? That maybe that trust was misplaced because you don't know that person as much as you thought you did?" Powder put her hands together, trying to look as unsuspicious as possible, attempting to keep her expression neutral.
"Khhh…You're really hitting me with the heavy-hitter, ey, kid?" The suited man scratched the back of his neck, pausing for a moment as he seemingly tried figuring out the logic behind such a question. "Well, look: This is a lot more common than you may think. At least, in the City." The Fixer began straightening his back as he spoke. "Here, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't make a couple of morally-questionable decisions at best. I guess it all depends on why they'd do such things. It's rare to find clear-cut decisions in the City, and you're often choosing the best of a lot of bad decisions and all you'll be left with is the choice you've made in the end and judged to be best. In the end, everyone's a villain for another person's story; that's that, and this is this." He shrugged indecisively. "It all depends on what you judge to be going too far."
"What I judge to be going too far, huh…" Powder repeated, slowly nodded, putting her hands together. "Sounds like a real slippery slope, man."
"I'm not disagreeing with ya. If it weren't…well, I wouldn't be having this conversation with you right now." A dark look formed Roland's facial expression long enough for Powder to take note of before he reined it in, "All I can say is this: only you can decide when enough is enough and nobody else."
"Only I can decide, eh?" Powder repeated softly, while looking up into the air, "I don't think that's the kind of choice I've ever thought I'd have in my life."
"Well, you have it now, don't you?"
"...Yeah. I guess I do."
Looking back at her peer, the all too familiar grin on Powder's face returned, "No time like the present then!"
With that, Powder began running down the stairs and towards the Floor of History once more, Roland smoothly moved out of her way and watched as her person went further and further out of his view.
Then, she suddenly stopped, much to his confusion.
"Hey Roland?"
"Yes?"
She turned her head back and Roland saw the most genuine smile from her yet pointed towards him.
"Thank you."
And with that, Powder happily continued on towards her destination, letting a somewhat confused Roland pocket his hands once more, whistling as he went on his way and shrugging. Maybe he could still enjoy some of his time as a kidnapped mercenary.
"Alright, Powder, you've got this. You're going to knock on that door, go in, and talk to Malkuth about…" Powder stood in front of the door that led to Malkuth's rooms, her arms dropping beside her for a moment. What did she want to talk with Malkuth about, anyway? She had gone on this entire quest to fulfill her 'Patron Librarian duties', although it was mostly to help sort the thoughts in her mind and get Suho off her back, though she herself hadn't declared a set and clear goal she wanted to accomplish. "Ah, forget it. I'll go with the flow."
Well, that was certainly one way to handle it. The young bluenette wasn't exactly sure it was the best method to go about doing things, but she knew that she wouldn't sit around and contemplate it for too much time, either. It simply wasn't her way of doing things, not to mention how out-of-place she'd look as if anyone stumbled upon her. She needed to constantly remind herself that with how full the Library was soon going to be, it was going to be smart to start monitoring her behavior in public to avoid any embarrassment to herself now that she was in such a prestigious position as a Patron Librarian.
…Gah, she really was starting to sound like a Topsider, wasn't she? She knew she certainly wasn't as snobby -what Topsider would possibly use something so awesome like Fishbones?- though she supposed that being in an ivory tower like the Library did have its consequences on her personality, if only by a tiny bit.
"Urg, I'm totally getting off topic right now." Powder mumbled to herself, while shaking her head a bit, "Let's get on with it already!"
Without another moment of delay, Powder opened the door to the Floor of History, barging in without warning and mentally slapping herself for worrying so much about being proper a moment ago when she simply invaded the privacy of a room without much thought, though upon seeing what was on the other side, let out a low whistle, very much impressed with what she was viewing.
The Floor of History has definitely undergone a complete overhaul now that Malkuth had it under her complete purview. With entire sky high bookshelves in the background, structures of all kinds of shapes that seem to rival pillars in terms of length were at the forefront of the room, each at a good distance from the other and in-between lanes of metal that seem to stretch as far as any sprawling highway road you'd find in a great city. What was most notable about the room however were the impossible number of display cases littered all over the room, each containing an item - some common to Powder, some alien, and everything in-between - for any room occupant to look at and observe, like they belonged to some kind of high art museum, with the light yellow color that seemed to permeate the entire room giving every that extra special glow that only the Library could have.
"Damn, now I definitely am feeling like a Topsider. I definitely wouldn't be allowed in here if this place was in Piltover…" Powder mumbled as she looked around the room with an impressed expression, spotting when she spotted a red haired young man in a smooth brown suit nearby, "Oi, hey you!"
The young man turned around just as the Patron of Psychology ran up to his spot, "Ah, you are Ms. Powder, correct?"
"Right on the money. And you're the Assistant Librarian of this Floor, right?" Powder deduced, grinning a bit as the red haired man confirmed it with a slight nod. "Great! I'm here to see your boss about something, so mind taking me to her?"
"Of course." Huh. It seemed that the Librarians on this Floor were far more obedient and professional than the ones on her Floor…or maybe it was the fact that she saw her own Assistants on the off-hours, when they wouldn't need to be as courteous or as professional.
Following the assistant for about a minute, they found Malkuth putting up another display - this time, of a strange looking book. As the brown haired girl was adjusting it to match the ones around it, the assistant politely called out to her.
"Miss Malkuth?" The Floor's Patron turned at the sound of her name, a look of surprise on her face at the sight of Powder following her assistant so closely behind, " is here and has something to discuss with you."
"Thank you for bringing her to me. You may leave us and resume your duties." With a slight nod of dismissal, the red haired assistant left the two Patrons by themselves. "Hello! I didn't expect another visit from you so soon, Powder."
"And I didn't expect you to get this place to be so touched up this fast!" Powder replied, still impressed with what she was seeing, placing her hands on her waist. "I thought it was just Yesod being pretty quick on the draw of things, but it looks like it's gonna apply to all of you guys!" Which…she supposed it made some sense; she had been informed by Angela that the other Patron Librarians had all of the information necessary to work in the Library implanted into their minds during their long slumber, including up-to-date information about all the new things that happened in the Library. Still, it was certainly a bit embarrassing to see newcomer Patrons outshine her when she was vaguely groomed to be one by the Library Director herself.
Powder then looked around, as if watching out for something that might be spying on them before leaning in as if she was whispering a secret towards Malkuth, her voice lowering appropriately, "Between you and me, your place is WAY less weird than his. Did you know that the Floor of Technological Sciences has a freakin' moon there now?!"
The long-haired woman giggled slightly, putting her hands on her sides and straightening her back. "I'm not surprised that Yesod managed to get his operations up and running faster than me - he's always been one of the more organized and efficient department leaders back at ." She closed her eyes, sighing as if she thought back to some fond memory. "And I'm quite surprised about the moon there; the Library is rather abnormal, and much of what you see here aren't the real deal, so the moon in Yesod's Floor is probably a replica." Made of what, Malkuth herself did not know, though she had seen some of the other Floors during a small tour she undertook herself, and it definitely told her that the Library was far from having normal interiors.
"Really now? A pin on that note for the future…" Powder muttered before the mention of brought her back to her mission statement for this meeting, "So, you've known each other way, way back before the Library existed right? Including Angela?"
"Yes, that's something you already know about, don't you?" The taller girl stated, looking a bit confused and curious as her peer began awkwardly shuffling her feet.
'Well...here goes nothing.' Powder thought grimly before biting the bullet. "While I know the general stuff about what happened at , I was wondering about the White Nights and Dark Days war thing you guys went through." She gulped as she saw Malkuth stiffened and her expression hardening ever so slightly, but knew it was too late to back out of things now, "Can I ask why you and the other Sephirahs went to war with Angela over the Light after everything you all went through together thanks to that Ayin guy? I'm…not exactly sure about what happened then, and Angela's really busy these days with the Library business and all to tell me more about it than she already did, so I thought you might know something." The Zaunite tried to be as casual as possible, not wishing to make the brunette put off her request.
For a good minute, Malkuth simply stared at Powder with an unreadable expression, one that made her increasingly uncomfortable as time went on, fearing she may have said or done something wrong, re-analysing what she just said.
Wordlessly, Malkuth nudged her head for Powder to follow her somewhere, which the younger girl did without question.
Soon, the two were sitting next to each other on a living room couch with a coffee table nearby, in a corner of the room where any prying eyes or ears wouldn't go unnoticed by them.
Once they were both comfortable on the couch, Malkuth finally spoke up once more.
"How much did Angela tell you about it?"
Powder let out a low sigh of relief at the tone Malkuth was using - one that was soft, patient and non-judgemental - a good sign that things weren't going to blow up in her face. She was quite satisfied with the amount of time Fishbones had already done so today, thank you very much.
"Well, enough." Powder pocketed her hands, shrugging noncommittally. "I know that you all worked under some sort of script for a proper jerk-face for something called the Light, and then your methods on how to use that Light differed, you had a little fight, and Angela won it, used the Light for making the Library, and here we are." At least, that was the brief version that she had heard throughout the past seven years of her life. The amount of relief that the bluenette felt as Malkuth's facial expression didn't disbelieve in the retelling was unmatched; so Angela was telling the truth, after all.
"I suppose that's not wrong to say…" Still, even if she didn't dispute the story, she didn't endorse it, either, from what it seemed. "Angela and us did indeed work together in the past back in the Corporation, and it's not wrong to say that she went through a lot back there, either." The long-haired brunette conceded, crossing her arms as she spoke. "But so did we! Nobody was exactly living a luxurious life while the others suffered in the Corporation. We were all in it together, whether we liked it or not. It wasn't as if we could stop the Script we were in once it started, anyway." She paused for a moment, leaning back and sighing.
"Uh-oh, this isn't going to be a long story, is it?"
"Well, considering I'm the Floor of History's Patron…" The older girl teased, winking before her expression turned serious once more. "No, it shouldn't be too long, seeing as it's a recap, mostly, of everything that's happened to us." She sighed, putting her hands on her knees. "While there were a lot of regrettable things about the Corporation, one thing that was always true is that we did want to release the Light. It was the fruit of our labor and research which we conducted away from the Eyes of the Head-"
"The Head?" Powder interrupted, her eyes wide as she spoke. "Angela told me about those guys once. If you were doing your research in secret from them, then that must've really bothered them, huh?" If any organization that had superhuman soldiers and unfathomably advanced technology was hunting down what seemed to be a rag-tag group of eccentric people, then whatever they did must've truly angered The Head…whatever that meant.
"Yup; the Light was meant as a sort of catalyst, made to awaken people's souls and minds. I'm not sure if you could tell, but the Cityfolk…"
"Aren't exactly right in the head, the guests we've been receiving made that quite clear."
"Right, and we had deduced this was due to a factor we called the 'Disease' throughout our research." Malkuth continued, pausing every couple of sentences to recall the memories in her mind. "There were…a lot of necessary unpleasant events for us to reach that point, but the point was that the Light would help slowly awaken people to that Disease and instill new life in the people. Now, obviously, this wouldn't have exactly resulted in a perfect world, just…y'know. One with fewer cannibals and murderers." Powder couldn't help but chortle at the delivery, forgetting about her image for a moment.
"Yeah, I can imagine that'd be more tolerable." It was honestly just going to turn the City into a normal place, then…if Malkuth was to be believed regarding the Light, of course.
"Yes, and so at the end of the Corporation, when the Light was meant to be released and Angela decided to take it for herself instead…you can probably imagine why we were so upset, right?" The teenager didn't answer that particular question, letting the older girl stare at her for a moment before sighing and continuing. "Of course, a battle was inevitable, and so I led the charge against her and organized the rest of the Sephirahs into battle-formations so we could take her on." She continued recalling, her tone the slightest bit melancholic.
"...Are you serious?" Powder whispered in disbelief, clearly not comprehending what she was hearing, "...YOU were the one who led everyone against Angela?!"
Malkuth blinked at this.
"Yes, yes I was. Is that so surprising?
"Yes, yes it is!" The younger of the two cried out before putting her hands up in the air in a defensive position when she caught the offended look on the brunette's face, "I mean, can you really blame me for not seeing that coming?"
"I can and I will!" Malkuth almost shouted which she punctuated with a stomp of her foot, beyond miffed at the implication of Powder's surprise and words. "I'll have you know I was one of the top Department leaders back at the Lobotomy Corporation! Me being the one to lead the others against Angela's usurpation isn't that much of a shock!"
"I mean…if one were to base it off of looks, then yes, yes it would be." Powder pointed out sheepishly, cowing when Malkuth's outrage began to increase. "I mean, c'mon, look at you! You look like the kind of girl who'd be a cheerleader supporting a war effort, not leading the charge!"
"Didn't anyone teach you to not judge a book by its cover?! I'd have expected you, my own teammate, to at least have more faith in my abilities to fight!" At least, considering Powder was also quite young and yet had a lot of fighting prowess.
"But…how else does someone get a book besides looking at its cover?" The Zaunite scratched her head as she narrowed her eyes.
"That's not the point of the saying!"
"Gah! So aggressive! Alright, alright, I'm sorry for assuming so much, geez." Powder mumbled, relaxing as Malkuth seemed to calm down ever so slightly. "Still, about Angela stealing the Light. She told me she did it because of what Ayin did to her. You're not saying she's lying about that, are ya'?"
"Oh no, if anything, that's probably the most honest thing she'll ever say." The older girl flicked a wrist, though she spoke with a bitter tone, though not directed towards Powder's previous assumptions. "She's been doing everything she did because of what Ayin did, I'm not going to dispute that. It's just that she's doing so much to spite a man who's already gone now, as far as I'm aware...just be quiet when you speak about him, Angela would probably give you a speech if you're not insulting him."
"Been there, done that since day two here."
"Ah, right, of course. You've lived here long enough to know how much hate Ayin brings out of her." The older girl let out a brief laugh before giving a low sigh. "I won't deny or even try to downplay the harm he's brought upon us all in his efforts to reach our dream when our original plan wasn't so violent. Or won't even say that she has no right to feel what she feels since her emotions are her own and she is well within her rights to hate him until the end of time."
"But…?"
"But we've given blood, sweat, and tears working for the Light." Malkuth answered, putting her hands together. "Even if Ayin's methods were far from ethical, the circumstances - which are a whole 'nother story, didn't really leave many better options. Even if the plan was entirely foolish and brought about so much suffering, the fact that we were this close to releasing the Light before she took it…!" The brunette grinded her teeth together for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm down. "It's just incredibly frustrating, you know...and she knows this; I've talked to her about it when she comes by to check on me, and I can tell that she knows. She just…I dunno. I don't know what she's really thinking, in the end."
Powder stared at the various emotions running through Malkuth right at that moment: anger, powerlessness, and above all else, exhaustion; the kind of exhaustion that can only be caused by someone else ruining something you were so close to achieving and had no way of getting it back. A look that was almost identical to-
"I told you to stay away!"
Powder took in a sharp breath at the invading memory.
'One chapter of a book, two chapters of a book…' She repeated the mantra in her mind, running a hand down her face.
"...Do you think what she did was unforgivable?" Malkuth, still in her own thoughts and seemingly frustrated, turned her brown eyes and locked with Powder's own blue ones as the latter elaborated on what she was saying, "Angela, I mean. Do you think that there's no coming back from what she did?"
"I honestly don't know, Powder, it's too difficult for me to make such a judgment when I cannot entirely blame both sides." The History Patron sighed, "If anything, I just wish that she would recognize just what she did to us just as she wants the world to recognise that pain that had been brought onto her."
"Knowing Angela, that's probably easier said than done." Powder replied as she awkwardly scratched the back of her neck.
Malkuth let out an amused snort at that, crossing her legs for a moment."Too true; you probably stayed with her enough to know that yourself, hm? It'd still go a long way for all of us if she ever manages to reach that point, don't you think?"
Powder lifted her head up, looking at nothing in particular, remembering the very first time Angela told her the story of and couldn't help but remember that spite-filled smirk that she gave as she recounted the way she took what she thought she was owed.
"Can't say that you're wrong there..."
Powder leaned back on the couch, both of her hands together as she licked her lips for a moment, processing all of the new information in her mind. Of course, there were still a few dark spots in the story she just heard, such as how Angela managed to beat back every Sephirah combined, though for now, she could handle not having that particular bit of information; she had more than enough information to rummage through in her mind for now.
So, apparently Angela's story wasn't as one-sided as she had told it to her young protégée. You'd think that Powder would've been shocked, although she was entertaining such a notion for a while now, so it hadn't shocked her as much as it probably should've. She always knew that Angela sacrificed a lot of things in order to obtain the Light, she just never said what those things were, nor that not all of those things were hers to sacrifice; she had also sacrificed the Patron Librarians' work…or at least, so she had been told by Malkuth.
Frankly, it was blatantly impossible, at least presently, to have a complete picture of what had happened all those years ago. The Zaunite was no slouch when it came to connecting dots and tying up loose ends, though there were a lot of loose ends to be tied up. It was equally impossible to draw a conclusion as of yet, seeing how she didn't know the exact details of just what that Ayin guy did to Angela to make her detest even saying his name, nor did she know what her new workmates personally suffered through to say that they were full of it.
She couldn't be too certain that either side was giving her a full story, either, though when both Angela and Malkuth seemed to speak with so much personal passion, she wondered if either side was actually lying in the first place, or if they were simply recalling things from their own perspective. Still, now that she went over the story that Angela had told her since she was a preteen again, she couldn't help but recognise that it didn't paint her in the most philanthropic of lights, and she supposed she never tried to paint herself as such, though it definitely added a new dimension to Angela's usurpation of the Light.
Obviously, Powder had always known Angela took some drastic measures to reach her current state, though she didn't mull over that piece of knowledge, but now, with the words of Roland still ringing in her ears, she had to wonder:
'How much is too much?'
She knew that Angela was willing to break all of the limits to reach her goal, and yet, the younger bluenette was willing to support her caretaker against the City, not merely as a way to repay her kindness, but as some sort of shared viewpoint, seeing how the City reminded her majorly of Piltover and her history in terrorizing Topsiders.
But they were far beyond stealing and reselling Topsider products now. She actively had blood on her hands supporting Angela, and while she couldn't feel especially guilty about the gut-harvesters and the cannibals, she did have to admit that so much pain and bloodshed wasn't entirely necessary. The Library Director always liked to keep her plans with the One True Book shrouded in mystery, and so it begged the question: even after her dearest friend in the Library succeeded and got to her goal…would it truly have been worth it? The price was already pretty steep, how much steeper could it go? Would it, in fact, go any steeper? Or did Angela herself know how to keep herself in check?
"Whelp, thanks a ton for indulging little ol' me, Malkuth. I hope I didn't waste too much of your time." Powder doubted she'd find answers to her question so soon, though it was always good to get a head-start before going back to scratching her scalp and trying to connect dots. The younger Patron Librarian got herself off of her senior's -at least in age- couch, smiling sincerely. Even if she got more questions than answers today, it definitely put her on track. On track to what…well, she was going to find out, wasn't she?
"Oh, you're leaving so soon? It was fun talking to you, Powder! You're always welcome to stay." The taller girl got up as well, walking after the younger of the pair as the latter headed towards the room/office's door.
"That's kind on your end," Especially Powder was essentially a mini-Angela to the rest of the Patrons when they didn't necessarily adore Angela in the first place. "But I've ought to be going; I need to keep my team in shape, y'know; who knows whenever Angela's going to get more Guests, right?" At the mention of the Guests, Malkuth's eyes seemed to have a tide of regret flood them, wincing for a moment before shaking her head and trying to remain seeming normal.
"...Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, if you want to come over at any time, you're always welcome to." Geez, what was it with her? Powder couldn't help but smile at the genuine kindness as she reached the door, opening it and turning to look at her gracious host.
"I'll definitely be passing by here soon, Malkuth. Take care of yourself 'till then, will ya'?" The enthusiastic nods she got seemed to indicate that the brunette was more than willing to oblige. "Alrighty then, see ya'." And with that, Powder exited Malkuth's room/office, more confused, conflicted, and determined than ever. It wasn't going to be easy, getting to the bottom of this, and she was going to need a lot more sources and first-hand accounts. She wasn't sure what she was getting herself into, but getting a clear picture was going to be a monumental feat, it seemed.
But she'd get there this time around. She had something to lose again after all.