The Underground Library Part 1
They arrived at the parking lot of Dharma Pass. There weren't that many cars when they arrived. Hana locks the door to the car and she and her friends starts walking. It's a nice sunny afternoon in Japan. Zoey led her friends on the path to the center of the Dharma Pass right in between Saimyō-ji Temple and Ashimiya Falls.
Zoey suddenly stops walking, causing the others to stop.
"How come we stopped walking, Zoey?" Haruto looks at Zoey.
"We're here." Zoey said. "The entrance is right off the path." She heads off the path to find the entrance. Zoey knelt down and wipes the dirt and leaves off a small stone tablet. On the stone tablet was the Yin Yang symbol. Pressing the tablet, the ground behind the tablet moved to reveal a secret staircase.
Her friends walk up behind her.
"This is the secret entrance." Zoey said to Hana.
"Then let's move."
Everyone enters the secret entrance and the ground closes above them. It was very dark in here. Lucrecia started focusing her ki and ignites fire at the tip of her two fingers. It was dim and gave them a little light to see where they're walking in the darkness. They made it to the bottom to see a wooden oak door.
Entering a large room, there were many candles floating above them and around the room. The candles lit up as if someone cast a spell. There were also shelves of bookcases lined up against the wall while others stood in the room. They could see there were three doors located on the other side of the room with tables and chairs.
"Wow." Haruto said amazed.
"And check out the clouds above us." Kanami points above them.
Everyone looks up to see the clouds above the candles.
"The ceiling is bewitched." Hana picks up a pebble and throws it. The pebble hits the ceiling and lands back on the ground. "See?"
"Then that means I must've found a magic library." Zoey smiled.
"It doesn't looks like anyone has been here recently." Lucrecia eyed the room carefully.
"So the records room is the first door on the left." Zoey pointed out.
"But what's down there behind the middle door?" Ruri points a finger at the door that was a little much deeper than the other two doors.
"It leads to another floor." Zoey shrugs her shoulders. "I didn't want to stay here any longer the last time I was here."
"Then let's check the records." Hana said.
The exploration team enters the records room. There were several different file cabinets in the room they were in.
"I found these pictures near the cabinet in the right corner of the room." Zoey pointed out.
"Now that we're here, we should start our search for the missing pages and see if there are any more pictures that Zoey found. Kanami, Haruto and Ruri, the three of you will start searching the other room. Lucrecia, Zoey and myself will find more pictures in here. With any luck, they should be in here while the others are searching the shrine." Hana said.
Her three friends nodded and left the room.
"How old do you think this library is?" Lucrecia wondered.
Everything in here was old and dusty.
"Probably seventy fives to one hundred years or even more that reaches to several centuries." Zoey said as she started taking pictures with her camera.
"Hey, come check this out." Kanami beckons her hand over. "Take a look at this map."
On the wall was a dusty old map of the library. There were fifteen floors on the map.
"Damn. Fifteen floors?" Haruto raises his eyebrows in surprised.
"Hm. The main floor is at the bottom and we're up here." Hana pointed at the map. "Come on. We should get moving."
Everyone exits the records room and opens the middle door that reveals a spiral staircase, leading down. Zoey and Hana grabs a floating candle and they all headed down to the bottom floor. It only took them for fifteen minutes to get to the first floor. Once they got to the first floor, Ruri pushes the stone doors. The room that they found was large as a coliseum that was filled with many different types of bookshelves and scrolls. Several large bowls of fire were floating all over the room to give enough light. At the center was tables and chairs with another records room in the center.
"Jesus, this floor is big." Ruri looks at their surroundings.
"Negation of Senses!" Hana stuck her hand and sends a silver wave of energy. "We're alone down here."
"Good." Ruri smiled, taking out several books from the shelves and puts them on the table. "Let's get to work."
Lucrecia, Haruto and Zoey enters the records room and started pulling out several files from the cabinets. They came across a lot of pictures and information from the files. Some of them were from 2000s to the 1800s.
"Damn." Haruto cursed, setting a piece of paper down. "There's even information about World War 2."
"Yeah." Kanami nodded.
"We need to dig deeper. If we're looking about Japanese Folklore, then early eighth century is what we're looking for right now. That contains the traditional Japanese Folklore."
"Not a bad idea." Ruri smiles at her friend.
"Thanks." Hana smiled.
"So any idea where they would keep that information in the underground library down here?" Haruto wondered.
"There has to be a thousand books down here." Zoey looks around at the shelves in the library.
"Or maybe in the hundred thousands." Lucrecia said.
"Well, we have a lot work in front of us." Zoey looks at Hana.
"Then we should take each a section to find the missing pages and pictures." Lucrecia suggested.
"I'll check the South Entrance." Haruto said.
"I got East." Ruri said.
"West is all mine." Zoey said.
"Then Lucrecia and I will take the Center, leaving Kanami for North." Hana said. "We'll call each other if we find anything and meet at the table."
The two women watches their friends go to their respective areas to begin their search. Hana and Lucrecia went back to the records room to pull out more files and puts them on the table.
They spent nearly a couple of hours searching. As Lucrecia was looking through a file, she picks up a picture that catches her interest. In the picture was a huge heavy gray cloud of smoke and two silhouettes. She saw the tail of a helicopter and recognizes the insignia of the Ex-Prince Sying. "Hm?" Lucrecia took a closer look. Moving onto the next picture was a single silhouette standing in a cloud of smoke, but she couldn't make it out what it is. The picture contains two maps; a town and a stronghold in the mountains.
"What the hell?" Lucrecia cursed. She hurries out to Hana who was still going through a file when she notices her friend.
"What is it?"
"I've found this file." Lucrecia hands the file over.
Hana opens the file and took out a couple pictures. Her eyes widen in shocked when she saw the helicopter. "The prince's-" But her voice was cut off by a pair of walking footsteps. Turning her head, she saw Haruto, Kanami, Ruri and Zoey were flung onto the table unconsciously.
"Who's there?!" Lucrecia calls out, drawing her sword.
Stepping out from the darkness was a tall man with short black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing blue jeans with no shirt and white shoes. "So I see you have the book." he sneers at them. "Hand the book over or die." The man shifts into a fighting stance.
Author's Note: What do you guys think about this chapter? I know this one is short. We get to see Lucrecia display a little of her abilities. This story is almost complete, and I can't wait for the end! So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter everyone! Don't forget to Follow, Favorite, PM and leave a review! See you all in the next chapter of this excellent story!