fandomhigh | Library, Thursday, November 4

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Library, Thursday, November 4

Since the 'undead' problem had seemed to die down -- he hadn't seen either of those bloody ghosts in a month -- so it was as good a time as any to do the fall cleaning.

The main doors to the library were propped open, with a chalkboard wheeled outside --

NOW HIRING
All Days
No Experience Required
Healthy Sense of Self-Perservation & Tolerance for Weirdness Preferred

The Fandom High Library was open. Make of that what you will.

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Jon eyed the hiring sign, firmly told himself that would be a bad idea, and found who he presumed to be the librarian.

"Excuse me, do you...that is, I'm looking for books about portals. Nonfiction."

"Right, which kind, then?" John asked, dumping another bag of empty alcohol bottles in the recycling without even looking up. "Naturally occuring, summoned, demonic, inter-planer, inter-dimensional, magical, mad science... we got a few different options to narrow it down."

Jon frowned. "Interdimensional and summoned, I think. My friends are looking for a way home, and Portalocity can't help."

Constantine snorted in amusement. "If they damn gnomes can't help them, then you'll want demonic or divine portals and teleportation," he said dryly. "Because if those mad bastards can't get the connection to work, then it's only an act of the heavens or the hells that will get you back out again."

"Sucks to be your friends. Check the Ks, third row over that way. The library feels like she wants to be Library of Congress this week, and those portals tend to have more to do with deals and laws than self-fueled magic."

"Apparently the one that got them here was created by a fairy," Jon offered. "I wasn't aware the Library of Congress had categories for magic." Having something like that might have made his life much easier. Then again, Gertrude probably would have ignored it anyway, so maybe not.

"Basic magic is under religion, at least this week. Last week she was Dewey Decimal, and the week before that, she organized herself by color. Be happy this week has a recognizable categorization system," he laughed.

"Got the true name of that fairy, by chance? I can always try Special Collections."

"I hadn't thought to ask." Jon made a mental note to do that. "This sort of...of magic is well out of my purview. What is...that is, Special Collections sounds important."

"Get me the true name, or at least whatever they call themselves most often, and I'll do a reasearch trip," Constantine replied. "If we're lucky, they owe someone a favor, who owes someone else a favor, and maybe I can get my hands on it."

"What do you know about the Fandom library?" he asked, glancing over at Jon as they headed towards the Ks. "I'll fill you in with cliff notes about the rest of it."

Jon nodded. "Right. I'll find that out."

He looked over with a wry smile. "I know it's a library. And given that it's at Fandom, I'm guessing it's somewhat odder than the usual. I've got some past experience with cursed books, if that helps."

"Cursed books stay in Special Collections, and I'm the only bastard with a key," John said with a wink.

"But welcome to the intersection of all knowledge across the multiverse. If it has ever been in print, will be in print, or was even dreamed of by the author, it's here. The outer library is mildly sentient, in the same way as the island has its own whims. If the books start following you around, just ignore them, they'll loose interest."

"Special Collections is the heart of the library, behind the big 'fuck off' doors with the magical wards placed all around it. Access is restricted, because it's not just alive. It's where all libraries across the multiverse connect, and it's not entirely in this world, or any world. It's smart. It's unstable. And it's dangerous, without even taking into account the shit that lives in there."

"So, if none of these books work out for you, your friends will owe me a favor if I go in there and find what they need."

Jon nodded grimly. "I'm perfectly happy to leave that alone. And if you ever see a book with a plate that says 'from the library of Jürgen Leitner', that's where it belongs."

He stuck out his hand. "Oh. Jonathan Sims, by the way."

"John Constantine, magus and ad-hoc librarian," he replied, accepting the handshake. "I was hired for my background in magic, not any actual degrees."

Jon huffed in laughter. "I would never hold a lack of degrees or experience against anyone. So long as you know what you're doing, you'd be better off than me when I started. I was, um. The Archivist. Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, if that means anything to you."

He couldn't decide if he hoped it did or not.

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Library, Thursday, November 4

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