fandomhigh | The Library is Open (11/30/05)

A violent "OOOOK OOK ook ook OOK!" is heard, and several books are tossed down at them, clearly aiming for their heads.

"Crap!" Parker ducks, and grabs Angela's arm. "Possibly, yes! C'mon, over this way!"

They run down an aisle toward the darker, more crowded shelves, ones that only let one person at a time squeeze by. Some books are piled on the floor here, and the lamps are candle-lit.

A few more books follow them for a shelf or two, and a dark shape with incredibly long arms swings by.

"OOOOK!" it howls after them.

They lose it on the second left.

Angela's gloved hands are still clasped above her head against the falling books, and she sees the shape only out of the corner of her eye.

She narrowly avoids knocking over a teetering stack of books and leans against a shelf, gasping. "So ... think the monkey is a big reader?"

Parker laughs shakily. "Could be. I think it was wearing a waistcoat. I wouldn't put anything past this place." She pats a bookshelf hastily. "Not that we don't like you! No!"

She lowers her voice. "It likes Zero, and us. But we don't want to take any chances."

Sighing, she looks around, then gets out her map. "Hang on a second, while I try to figure out where we are now."

A stack of books goes floating by, one aisle over.

"It likes us?" Angela asks. With her right hand, she reaches down to the stack of books she almost toppled. "Nice books. Yes. Thank you for letting me help look after you," she says, tone utterly serious.

Then che glances back up and sees what's in the next aisle. "And, um ....do the books usually float?"

Parker glances that way out of the corner of her eye, and says in a low voice, "Sometimes. Or maybe it's an illusion. I tend to avoid the books that aren't staying put. Why take chances?"

She straightens up, and re-folds the map. "Okay. This way, back into the orange."

The bookcases are now alternating wood and metal-- some gold, some brass, some a mish-mash design. They open back out, and the lamps are brighter, and Parker stops in front of a bookcase with books chained down. "These books tend to both bite, and explode. The notes say they're alarmed, too, so it's probably not a good idea to take them off the shelf. Dr. Pierson has some metal gauntlets in case we need to check them."

"Good idea," Angela says, adding Don't touch moving books to her mental list from the expedition.

Wishing she had brought a notepad, she pokes an experimental finger at the bookcase of chained books, then withdraws it quickly. Keeping all her parts and remaining girl-shaped are still her main goals on this mission.

"So does the weirdness ever get less weird?," she asks. "I mean, you seem pretty cool with all of this stuff."

Parker cocks her head, and considers. "We only go in here about once every couple weeks, really, to get a request, and when we catalog we stay in the green section, or out in the main library, so... the weirdness stays pretty low-key, most of the time." She smiles wryly. "I think the monkey or whatever was Special Collections' idea of a joke. Although having a professor disappear in here is never going to make it safe."

They round another corner, and Parker stops, consulting her map. "Nuts. Okay, I think we took a wrong turn. If Zero were here, she could just point us to the exit, but we'll have to go back."

"Oh, right, the religion teacher," Angela says. She smiles wearliy, clearly attempting to brush it off. "Maybe he's still looking for his book."

She looks at the map, attempting to trace their route with her finger. "Okay, I have no idea. You think you can backtrack?"

"I think so," Parker says, turning around. "The fittings are usually a good clue, if you can remember what you went past. We want the wood ones, but off to the left of where the monkey with the fashion sense got mad. This way."

The went past two long rows, down another, and into an open area between shelves, with large globe in the center. Parker stopped and looked around in frustration. "Damn. I could've sworn there was a fountain here. It must've moved again." She ducked into one of the shelves, and took down a book. "Another way to check? Is to see what's on the shelves. That can give you an idea."

She frowned at the book she'd taken down. "Alice's Journey Behind the Moon? The hell...?"

"A book not written," Angela says, going pale. "I mean, unless Carroll published something I didn't know about." She shrugs, embarassed. "I had this whole fantasy about being Alice when I was little. Read everything."

She turns, trying to get her bearings. "Yeah, I have no idea where we are."

At Parker's comment, someone discreetly coughed behind them. "May I help you young ladies?"

A tall, thin man, wearing pince-nez, a dark vest with a watch-chain, and with hair that sharply feathered back, was looking at them with some confusion.

Angela almost jumps at the man's voice. "Um, we're library aides? For the Fandom High library?" she adds, a creepy feeling on the back of her neck suggesting she might need to specify. "And we're lost. Do you know the way for us to get back?"

The man's eyebrows rise, and he clicks his tongue. "Dear oh dear. You're awake. This is most irregular." He studies them both over his glasses. "But wait. Fandom? Oh, that makes more sense." He turns and motions them to follow him, leading them past the brass globe and over to a set of white wood bookcases.

Parker hurries to catch up, and asks, "Why does that make more sense? And if you don't mind my asking, who are you? Sir," she says, not wanting to offend their guide.

"It's a soft place, like this is." He nods to Angela. "You're quite right, that book was never published. Nor written. Reverend Dodgson merely had it in mind for some time. You've wandered into the Library of the Dreaming, I'm afraid. This way to the egress." His lips crimp at his joke.

Angela smiles, feeling somehow relieved as she follows the tall man. "Thank you," she says, simply.

Falling behind, she shoots a look at Parker. "The Dreaming?," she mouths.

Parker remembers Dream explaining some of this to her, but now is probably not the time to get into it. "Go with it," she mouths back. "I'll explain later."

"We'll be sure to tell Dr. Pierson and Professor Dream how helpful you were, Mr.... um, we don't know your name."

"Lucien. And do give my regards to your Professor, and let him know that things continue well here." He said, nodding to both of them sharply. "And your names are?"

"I'm Angela and this is-" Angela's eyes flicker over to Parker, and she realizes she still doesn't know the other girl's first name. "Miss Parker," she finishes.

Lucien nods. "Miss Angela. Miss Parker. Take this row down to the next crossing, take a hard right, then a left at the cabinet of curios. I'll bid you good evening-- I have several new quartos to catalog, and a raven to track down."

And without saying anything else, he marched back off into the bookcases, and disappeared from sight down the aisle.

"Goodbye, Lucien," Angela calls.

Face screwed up in concentration, Angela follows his directions exactly. Eventually -- after what seems like a very long time -- they are within sight of the double doors that lead out of Special Collections.

"Oookay. So, here's another tip: soft spaces, like Lucien just mentioned, are where realities... bleed into each other. Dream explained it to me, a while ago. Zero's good at getting *out* of here, because she signed a contract in blood accidentally, and it looks like she's 'bound' to this place. So she can always find the exit." Parker grimaced. "Otherwise, groups of more than two are really the best possible idea."

"Bleeding realities. Got it," Angela says, grim. "And ... how do you accidentally sign a contract in blood? Or am I better not knowing?"

The Library is Open (11/30/05)

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