CHAPTER 177

Sofia shook her head. "I was in the village during the initial attack, but ran to the Library to defend it. The Order was attacking my village, and I knew that many of my people would be there to protect it. When I arrived, the first place I ran to was the reading room. There was a man there, a knight of the Order, standing over the bodies of children. I was so surprised to see him there, to see their bodies, that I barely reacted to the vision warning me of injury. He tried to run me through the belly, but I was able to jump out of the way. What was supposed to be a fatal stomach wound became..." She sighed. "I took his sword, and then his life. When I left that room, I thought that I was dying. I was a woman possessed, and killed over thirty of the bastards before they fled. When all was said and done, me and a few others locked the building down, breaking its link with the island so they could no longer attack it. My wound was treatable, but the scar tissue, it..."

Eulalie put her hand on Sofia's. "I'm sorry," she told her.

The cyclops nodded, then wiped another tear from her eye. "I gave up on having a family long ago, much less children. The house, though, it has given me purpose outside of being the Librarian. I enjoy every minute of it, even though my job suffers."

"You can't just hire more people to help you? I mean, you are in charge."

Sofia chuckled dryly. "I haven't really had the opportunity to do so. When only a handful of people even know you exist, it's kind of hard to get the word out. People don't age in the Library, and humans are prone to seeking immortality that way. Once they learn that they will age if they leave, they slowly go mad, counting each precious second outside of the Library's walls. Apparently books aren't enough to keep most people happy, so they inevitably stay away too long, or go insane and must be removed."

"My mom loved books. I bet she would have been very happy there. She even used to be a librarian, but never talked about it much." She smiled, thinking about her mother. If you could only see me now, mom. I'm making so many friends!

"Do you love books?" Sofia asked. "Maybe you want a job?"

Eulalie shrugged. "I don't know. The whole reason I became an internet nerd was books couldn't be published fast enough. I wanted to experience the world through others, for all the typical reasons." She scurried up the wall as if to illustrate her point. "I'm afraid I've always been more into audio and visual media. Movies, music, that kind of thing."

"Maybe the Library needs a modern touch." Sofia smirked, then looked at the stairs to the next level. "But perhaps we should get back to why we are here."

"Magic weapons!" Eulalie rubbed her hands together in anticipation as they continued up the stairs.

When Amymone had informed them that there were magic weapons stored in an otherworldly tower, Eulalie had actually gotten down on all of her knees and begged to be told more. Decades of fantasy books, games, and Dungeons & Dragons campaigns had instilled in her an absolute love for magic. She had seen her uncle do small things with it, like commune with trees or portal hop. In reality, he was more of a druid than a sorcerer or wizard.

Her mother had often told them about the magic she had seen members of the Order use. It was both terrifying and exciting to know that magic not only existed, but was apparently some huge secret. It was the main reason she had gone to work for the government. There was always the hope of discovering that the US government was stashing magical books in the Library of Congress, or maybe even a wizarding school at Area 51.

"I'm hoping for a flaming sword," Eulalie declared when they found themselves outside of the armory. "One that ignites when you say its name, or something fancy in elvish. It's way cooler than a sword that can fold itself up, no offense. Grew up with one, but we used it mostly for chopping wood."

"Elves are dicks." Sofia gazed cautiously at the entrance. "Ratu warned us that this stuff is bad news, so please don't just grab the first thing you see. We have a purpose here."

"I know, I know." Eulalie rubbed her hands together. "Find weapons that we can potentially use once Mike returns. Categorize them based on strengths and weaknesses so that we can form a...wait, elves are real? Are they like the ones from Lord of the Rings?"

"It's a rather generic term which can refer to lots of different creatures. But yes, they're all dicks." Sofia frowned. "Wait, I take that back. There is one curious exception to the rule."

"Who are they?"

"Let's just say that they're the epitome of nice." Sofia inspected the door. "Yuki and Ratu had a magical lock installed here, give me a second." She pulled out a crystal ball from one of her pockets and held it up. "Ratu?"

The naga's face appeared. She was soaking in a hot bath.

"Move me a little higher," Ratu said. Sofia lifted the ball, and a thin beam of blue light came from the crystal ball and struck a hidden rune just to the left of the doorway. The rune sent out a ripple of energy that caused another set of hidden runes to appear and then vanish.