The Library [EverlyxAndy]

[Ethys]

The door had indeed returned. It sat in the wood, looking as though it had been carved there all along. Not a single detail had changed from the first time that it appeared for him - even the leaves strewn on the steps were the same. Identical birds sat in the trees, singing the same songs, watching him with the same amount of avian curiosity. The woods were devoid of other wildlife in the area, though they would have been anyway - they had learned the scent of Jason's path.

Inside, the Library remained unchanged as well. The shelves were the same, with the same books in all the same places. There was still dust in every corner, with lit lamps on every table. Despite the sun shining on Jason's side, the dust-coated windows of the Library were dark. There was a faint, pale-looking light coming through the corner, giving the idea of a moon. That made the lamps look brighter, their flames occasionally flickering in some imagined breeze.

Standing with her back to the door was Eirian. She had changed far more than Jason. It appeared as though she had aged ten years instead of two. Her long red hair was now short, hanging in tight curls from a jeweled comb on her head. She wore a long dress of the same fashion as her last, but this one was a light grey instead of green. Her face was still kind and still smiling, but the edges of her eyes held faint lines that betrayed her exhaustion. Being the Guardian of the Library was a draining existence. She was a constant help to any who needed it, requiring that she take little rest or time for herself. As such, she was not nearly as energetic as she had been before.

It took a moment, but she did realize that she felt a new presence in the Library. Behind her? There was no door there. Confused, she turned and blinked in surprise when she saw Jason standing there. He had come back, after all this time. She didn't expect him to return at all. He seemed older, yet not so much as she would have expected.

"Jason. You came back."

 

[Andy]

Jason sighed in relief when he saw the door and couldn't help but smile at the thought of seeing Eirian again. He pulled the bag that was on his bike off and slung it over his shoulder. He had a few things he wanted to show her that he thought might help add to the library. He intended to keep his promise about teaching her a few things about his world that he doubted even she knew. His heart tightened in his chest at the thought of seeing Eirian again. What would he do when he saw her? what would she do when she saw him? He didn't know why but the thought of it made him extremely nervous.

He walked up to the door and pulled the key out of his pocket and gently slid it into the lock and unlocked the door. When he stepped inside he couldn't help but tear up a bit as he was welcomed by the sight of all the books that were in the library. It looked exactly the same as it had two years ago. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It even smelled the same. He couldn't explain the feeling he had but..it felt like he was coming home in a way.

When he heard Eirian's voice he smiled and turned to greet her but paused when he saw how much..older she looked. He knew he hadn't seen her in two years but..he hadn't expected her to change this much. What had happened to her. She still looked as beautiful as ever but she looked as if she was in her thirties now. He would ask her about that in a moment he thought to himself. Instead he just gave her his kindest smile and nodded once "..I promised I'd come back one day Eirian I just wish it could have been sooner..I came back every day to try and get inside again but the door was never there."

 

[Ethys]

The Guardian was as observant as ever, noticing Jason's slight hesitation before responding to her greeting. He seemed surprised.. which was exactly as she remembered him. Constantly in shock, ready to faint at any given moment. The thought made her almost start to laugh, but she held it in as he spoke to her. His voice was the same, just a touch deeper, perhaps. It held the weight of more experience than it had before. Less panic. He seemed.. happy.

"Every day? Really?" Eirian asked, surprised but smiling. "Wow. I am sorry that the door did not appear for you for so long. I waited here for you every day for the first five years, but after that.. well, I assumed you had forgotten and moved on," she admitted, tilting her head slightly. It had been fifteen long years in her world, fifteen years in the Library. She had not seen or heard from him in all that time, yet the stack of books that she had eagerly collected for him remained on the table in the Earth level. As a matter of fact, she had added to it over the years. Every time she came across a book that she thought he might find interesting, she had added it to the pile. Now there were more than fifty books waiting on that table, collecting dust as they sat for him.

"It is good to see that you are well. I received many books on war while you were gone, books from your world. I worried that something had happened to you," she added after a moment, a look of concern touching her features before fading. He was obviously fine, standing here with no apparent injury. She was just relieved to see him again, despite how long it had been. Now that he was here, she found that she wasn't sure what to say. Was he here for a book? Did he want to explore more? Why had he tried to find the door every day after it had stopped appearing? He was certainly persistent. She smiled a bit. A stubborn man indeed.

 

[Andy]

Jason literally froze in place at her words. "wait...did you just say it's been...five years since I was last here?..that can't be possible it's only been two years back on earth.." It certainly explained why she looked so much older. However he still thought she was as beautiful as ever and he was just happy to see her again. She sounded almost surprised at his persistence at coming back to the woods every day in an attempt to get back here. it almost made him chuckle a bit.

"I have changed a bit since you last saw me Eirian..and yes..the world I come from has changed as well..many wars have broken out over the past two years and many people were hurt. I'm just glad that no one I knew was one of those people.." He looked down for a moment and then looked back up at her "Eirian..i'm sorry I didn't come to see you again sooner..but I could never forget about this place..I could never forget about you either." He swallowed hard and fought the surge of emotions that were swelling up within his chest. Even after 2 years in his own time there was no way he could have prepared himself for this reunion between them.

A part of him wondered if she had waited for him that long because she felt the same way about him as he had about her. Or if it was something else entirely. He wasn't sure and he would only find out if he asked her. "I um..I brought you a few things from my world that I thought you might like to see Eirian." He walked over to one of the nearby tables and set the bag down before he looked over at her again. His face was passive but his eyes clearly said that he wanted to say something more as he scanned her up and down almost like he had the day he had first met her this time though. The scan was slower..more..meaningful then just a quick look over to judge her.

 

[Ethys]

Eirian nodded, frowning a little. War. She found it so unnecessary. Why did people feel the need to fight and kill each other? All life was sacred. Not believing in the same things as somebody else did not make them less of a person. It simply meant you believed different things. Nothing was worth stealing the life of another, yet for some reason, it happened all the time. Murders and disappearances, wars and attacks. She did not understand. Now she knew that Jason's world was just as tumultuous as she had heard and read - many wars over the span of two simple years. Many hurt. She knew that meant many more were likely dead. And for what? To prove who was right? Who was better?

She refocused on Jason as he explained that he had brought things to show her. That intrigued her immediately. Of course, he would not bring books - those she had to spare. What else would he have brought with him? She moved closer to him, very curious to see what was in the bag that he had with him. Peering at it, she pondered all of the things that could fit in there. It was impossible to guess. She looked up at him, finding his eyes already on hers, so she gave him a simple smile.

"What is it? Hopefully nothing from the wars, right..?"

 

[Andy]

He gave her a small smile back and opened the bag and pulled out a few quick things. "I promise you. nothing from any of the wars are with me. I don't want to go anywhere near them nor do I want anything that would belong to them." He hated violence. He wanted nothing to do with war and wanted only what was right and that was a life of peace. A part of him had wanted to run away long ago and stay here in the library where it was always peaceful. But that dream had died when the door just refused to open again. a part of him still wanted to stay here forever. But..he didn't know if he was allowed to or if he even had a right to for that matter.

"It's just a few simple things. Remember from our first meeting you said that you weren't getting as many books from my world as you once were? Well..this is the reason why" He pulled out of the bag a small flattened white square with a screen in the center of it "this is why there aren't as many books from our world any more. It's called a kindle. and this little thing here is what people from my world use to read now. We don't use actual books any more. We download them onto here. It's more convenient and it takes up less space. So imagine..all of the books in the library here stored and forever saved on a couple hundred of these devices."

He offered the kindle to her and gave her a small smile. He didn't know what she would think of it. so it was a gamble to bring it here. He didn't know if she would find it fascinating or if she would dislike it because it wasn't the same as a real book. He preferred the real thing as well but he couldn't deny that it was easier to store all the books he liked to read onto the device because it was easier to carry around and it didn't take up as much space. "I have a few other things in here as well..give me a second." If she would take it he would go right back to digging into the bag to try and find something else. If she didn't take it he would set it on the table and resume his search through the bag.

 

[Ethys]

"Oh, good.."

Eirian blinked as Jason pulled out something.. square? It was mostly flat. She examined it closely, then looked up at him in disbelief as he explained what it was. Books condensed into this.. kindle? Odd. She frowned thoughtfully and looked back at it, wondering if Jason was in fact sane. There was no way that this little box thing could contain books. She gingerly accepted it when he offered, looking it all over. After a few moments, she started poking at it with one finger. Flat, cold, hard. It didn't look like a book, or smell like one, or feel like one. This was not a book.

She squinted and poked at it more, finally prodding a piece that moved. As it moved, the entire object started to glow and words appeared on it. Caught off guard, Eirian squealed and dropped the device with a clatter on the table. She stepped behind Jason, peering around him at the harmless device that was now slightly cracked. Now that she was looking at it, she felt a bit silly for reacting that way. It hadn't bit her or anything. She blushed a bit and cleared her throat, stepping away from Jason as if she hadn't just ducked behind him like a terrified schoolgirl.

"That's.. nice," she managed, deciding that she would much rather have a real book in her hands than that.. thing.

 

[Andy]

He smiled a bit as Eirian took the kindle from him and started to examine it as he searched through his bag. He managed to find the next thing he had wanted to show/give to her when she suddenly squealed and jumped behind him. He looked back at her and then looked at the now cracked kindle. He stared at the kindle as he tried to figure out what happened before he realized that she must have turned it on and that it had scared her.

He couldn't help it. It just came out of no where as he started laughing. He laughed so hard he had to hold his stomach to keep himself standing. When his laughing fit was over he wiped at his eyes and smiled at her "I'm..i'm sorry for laughing I just..I couldn't help it..It's just..you can do all this magic and stuff yet..when you turned on that kindle you got so surprised you dropped it haha"

He finally stopped laughing after a few more minutes before he smiled at her again "I can tell you prefer regular books. To be honest so do I. There's no beating the smell of fresh paper and the sound of turning a page when your reading. The only good side to the kindle is it takes up less space. and you don't have to worry about paper cuts" He chuckled a bit and then pulled out two small boxes.

"these are um...gifts I should say. In my world it had been two years since I last saw you and I know we didn't know each other that well nor do I really know the exact date of it but..I wanted to get you something for your birthday so I got you these" He held the two boxes out to her and gave her a small smile. "I understand if they're..not really your thing or anything like that but..I thought you might like them." Inside one box was an emerald necklace inside the other were a matching set of emerald earrings.

necklace

earrings

 

[Ethys]

Eirian put her hands on her hips and huffed a bit when Jason laughed at her, but she was smiling. She knew that she deserved it, just as he had deserved her giggles when he first arrived and she started laughing at how he had reacted to the Elementalist and her ball. Kindles were not her thing. That much she knew, now. This explained many things - the slowing of the arrival of Earthly books, for one. She did not understand why people would prefer this flat box thing, but maybe it was all a matter of convenience as Jason had suggested. It was smaller. Easier to carry around. She eyed the device one last time, then turned her attention to Jason again.

"My birthday?" she repeated, surprised. Nobody ever thought of her birthday. She was the Guardian of the Library, not some normal person with birthdays. At least, that's how most people viewed her. A helpful entity without true feeling. However, that was not the case. She did indeed have a birthday, and lit a single candle for herself every year. Several of the books mentioned such a tradition, though she had never seen it done in person, so she just used a regular candle and blew it out with no true notion of how it was supposed to work. She took the boxes from Jason, a bit excited. Birthday gifts. She had never received such things!

"I don't think I've ever opened a present before.." she mused absently, mostly talking to herself as she opened the boxes. The glimmer of gemstones caught her eyes and she gasped in surprise. They were gorgeous! She loved them immediately - emeralds were her absolute favorite. Delighted, she turned and hugged Jason tight. If she were as young as she had been when she first met him, she would have been jumping up and down from excitement.

"They're beautiful! Thank you. I have something for you too, in a way. Nothing you can take home, but it's for you all the same," she said, smiling as she offered her hand to him to take him downstairs.

 

[Andy]

Jason blushed deeply when all of a sudden he felt her arms wrapped around him in a tight hug. He looked down at her and quickly hugged her back and held her close. "I'm glad you like them Eirian. I really am" He smiled and let her go as she started to pull back and leaned back against the table a bit as he tried to control the rapid beating of his heart. He was going crazy on the inside and he wasn't sure how he was keeping his cool on the outside.

When she said she had something to show him he couldn't help but smile more. When she offered him her hand he took it without hesitation and looked down into her eyes with a kind smile "lead the way Eirian." He figured that what she had to show him were probably books or something like it. He wasn't sure but he had a strong feeling that it was that. But he didn't care he was grateful for the thought and that's all that really mattered.

With his free hand he quickly scooped up the kindle and shut it off before dropping it back into his bag and then throwing the bag over his shoulder. Those were the only things he had brought with him but he planned to bring more the next time he saw her now that he knew he could take things into the library. He had been nervous that something would prevent him from bringing anything inside but now that he knew he could he didn't have anything to worry about.

 

[Ethys]

"The last time you were here, I thought you would come back the next day. You weren't here very long, but you seemed really interested. I know that you were unaware of the worlds extending beyond your own. So, when you left, I began a small stack of books on your table in the Earth level. Just a few interesting ones that I thought you might like. Well, of course you were not here the next day, but I kept adding to the stack. I believe there are over fifty of them now," Eirian explained as she walked with him down the three levels to the floor with his personal world on it.

She led him through the bookcases once more, again taking him to the tables. The model was still there, still glowing and glittering with gemstones just as brightly as it had the last time he was here. Now, however, one of the tables was not empty. It was covered in book stacks - every thing that she had seen that she thought he might like, she had put on this table to wait for him. She paused and looked up at him, her smile hesitant. Perhaps he would not like it as well as she had hoped. After all, it was not a 'kindle' or anything fascinating.

"What do you think..?"

 

[Andy]

Jason followed her down to the flights of stairs towards the earth world floor. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he had a flash back to the day they had met. It was almost the exact same process they were going through now that they had gone through then. The only difference was that instead of him freaking out over everything he saw it was her that had freaked out over the kindle which the thought of only brought another chuckle from him.

When he saw the large stack of books on the table his eyes grew wide. She had been keeping all these books on hold..for him? He didn't know what to say. He gently let go of her hand and walked over to the books and gently ran his fingers down the large stacks of them. There had to be at least fifty books for him here. Had she looked for them because she wanted him to have something to read when he had come back or..had she done it for a reason a bit more personal than that?

He looked over at her and gave her a small smile before he closed the distance between them in a few small steps and hugged her again. He held her close for a moment before he softly whispered in her ear "I think I'm lucky to have a good friend like you..thank you Eirian I really appreciate the thought behind this. I'm sure it wasn't a lot of trouble for you to do this for me..but I really appreciate it."

 

[Ethys]

Eirian watched Jason carefully, a bit anxious as he approached the loaded table. She was growing more worried that he may not like her gift to him, which would be a situation she was not familiar with. Since he had given her two gifts that were wonderful, was she required to search until she found a suitable gift in return? That seemed silly, but she didn't know. It did not match what she had read. What if she had forgotten something? She pondered that, lost in thought for a few minutes and starting to walk in mental circles until she felt arms curling around her. Oh! Jason! She blinked and smiled at the embrace, her arms wrapping around him n return.

"Y-You're welcome," she stammered, a bit flustered by the close contact and how he spoke to her. It made a pink blush appear on her cheeks, which gave her a younger appearance for a few moments until it faded away. He made her feel so strange - as if she were some frivolous teenager again and not a responsible Guardian. She swallowed and pulled gently away from him, figuring that if she put a few inches between them, she would stop acting so silly.

Maybe.

"You can stay as long as you like to read, and I will leave them there for you once you go home. They'll wait for you here so that you can finish them whenever you have time," she promised with a smile.

 

[Andy]

Jason smiled a bit and looked down into her eyes again. He couldn't help but stare into them even though they were no longer right next to each other all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her again and never let go. When he realized he was staring he blushed and looked to the side and swallowed hard. When she mentioned she'd keep the books where they were he smiled a bit and nodded "t..thanks I really appreciate that"

He looked back at the stack of books that she had set out for him and then back at her. "If you don't mind though Eirian..I'd rather not read right now..I'd um..to be honest I'd rather spend a bit more time with you." He swallowed hard and gently tugged at his collar before continuing "what I mean is..I want to get to know you better and..I'd like to you know..just sit down and talk somewhere. if your ok with that anyways."

He noticed that she hadn't put the necklace or the earrings on yet. Most likely because she needed help doing so or she hadn't thought of doing so yet since she wanted to show him her gift to him "um..also..would you like some help putting on the necklace. I mean..if you want me to help I'll help but if you'd rather do it yourself I understand completely I mean..." He stopped talking and then rubbed the back of his head and gave a nervous chuckle "yeah...i'm um...i'm sorry if i'm acting weird or anything like that..it's just that.." He paused again and shook his head. No he couldn't say that he was attracted to her. Not only when they had met for the second time and he didn't know how she felt towards him "I..uh..never mind forget that I said that last part"

 

[Ethys]

"You are stuttering and babbling just as much as you did the first time you visited me," Eirian observed with an amused expression. Though her face now held lines and dark circles betraying how tired she was, the amused sparkle in her eyes remained the same. It was clear that she was laughing at him on the inside. Poor Jason. Despite having 'grown up' a little, he was still nothing but a child on the inside. She was not sure why he was so nervous all of a sudden, but she wouldn't question him. It would probably only make him worse if she brought more attention to it.

She unfastened the necklace in her hands and carefully handed it to him once it was open. It was much easier to put on that way. Once he had it, she carefully put the earrings in and turned her back to him so that he could more easily fasten it around for her.

"Thank you. As for just sitting and talking.. I admit I haven't really done that since your last visit when we talked about the other worlds. It sounds nice, though. I have not had a real talk about anything other than answering questions in.. well, I honestly can't remember when. It would be lovely," she admitted, looking over her shoulder at him with a smile. "Where would you like to sit?"

 

[Andy]

He blushes a bit at her first comment and couldn't help but chuckle a bit. He mumbled softly under his breath to get rid of the blush on his cheeks hoping she doesn't hear him. "I'm only stuttering and babbling because your so beautiful and the way I feel about you.."

When she offered him the necklace he gently took it from her and swallowed hard as she turned around so he could put it on her. He gently lifted the chain over her head and brought it around gently behind her neck where he would carefully lock the clasp back into place so it would rest on her neck. When he finished he gently let his hands fall to her shoulders for a moment before he let them fall back to his sides.

"well..I want to be that person you can start having frequent conversations with so your not only answering questions..I want to be here for you Eirian. As for where I would like to sit and talk..I'll go wherever you'll feel the most comfortable to talk with me. It doesn't matter if we talk here or somewhere else as long as I'm with you and able to talk to you I'm happy and I hope you'll be happy as well because your happiness is all I want"

 

[Ethys]

Not hearing Jason's mumbled response, Eirian stayed perfectly still as he fastened the necklace for her. It laid perfectly on her skin, feeling wonderful. She smiled and looked down at it, then turned around to face Jason as he explained that he wanted to be there for her, to talk. That was.. wonderful. She glanced around, pondering. This level was very nice, but.. She wanted to show him more. And if they were going to sit somewhere, it should be someplace that would interest him and be comfortable at the same time.

She knew just where to go.

"Come with me," she invited with a smile, taking his hand in hers and walking toward the stairs. Once they were there, she brought him over to the railing instead of going up or down. She peered over the side, gazing down into the bottomless blackness that seemed to make up the center of the gigantic spiral. After a moment, she looked up at Jason, her expression one that a troublemaker might wear right before doing something they really shouldn't.

"Do you trust me?" she asked, climbing up on to the railing and sitting on it with her legs dangling over the edge while she watched him.

 

[Andy]

Jason watched her as she turned to face him. She looked beautiful as ever with that necklace hanging around her neck and the earrings set in her ears. It was all he could do to fight the urge to throw his arms around her and confess the way he felt about her. He held himself back though for he did not want to scare her away from him by confessing how he felt to early. Yet..at the same time he feared he would never get another chance. The door hadn't appeared for two years last time and five years had passed here. If he didn't confess the way he felt about her soon he might never get that chance before she grew to old for him.

He vowed he would tell her how he felt soon but for now he just wanted to be near her. When she took his hand and led him towards the stairs he smiled a bit. When she didn't go up or down them and instead went to sit on the railing he paused. What was she up to? "do you trust me?" The words rang in his head and in his chest as he stared at her. The trouble making look she got on her face wasn't helping his nerves.

However in the end he trusted her and he would always trust her. Without a moments hesitation he sat next to her on the railing and nodded his head "I trust you with my life Eirian. I know you would never cause me harm on purpose nor would I ever do that to you. I'll go with you wherever you may be as long as you'll let me be by your side through it" His words to him kinda sounded like a confession without actually confessing anything at the same time and a part of him wanted to kick himself for it while another part of him felt relieved that he had said something as to how he felt.

 

[Ethys]

Eirian looked over at Jason with a smile, doing nothing for a moment. Once he had relaxed a bit, she jumped off the railing, using her hold on his hand to pull him down with her. She yelled in delight as they fell, starting to giggle from the pure rush of it. They tumbled past several levels, freefalling for nearly five whole minutes before the air began to push against them. The slowed at a pace that was enough to keep them afloat but still get them down to a safe speed. Soon they were just drifting along like feathers, their path spiraling off to the side to a whole new level. This one did not have any books, but merely a door.

"Come on," she said with a smile, her hand still in his as they landed. She took him over to the door and pushed it open.

Inside was a large, circular room. Chairs were all around the outside edge, all cushioned and leaning back to stare at the domed ceiling. She went to the center of the room and made a few gestures over the stand that stood there. In a mere moment, the ceiling was filled with the sight of millions of sparkling stars and planets. It was like what she had shown him before, but on a much larger scale. The planets were even slowly rotating around, giving it the look of a working model. This was her favorite room in the entire Library.

"Do you like it?"

 

[Andy]

As soon as she started falling forward he knew what was going to happen and a part of him regretted his decision. As they fell he felt the wind rushing past his ears they were going so fast he was sure they were about to break the sound barrier. He didn't scream but he didn't whoop in excitement either. He just kept his eyes closed and waited for the fall to be over. He trusted her completely and knew this wouldn't kill him. That didn't mean he was enjoying the fall however.

When they came to a stop he let out a breath of relief before he followed her inside the room she had gone into. He looked around and paused when he saw nothing at first. It wasn't what he was expecting but it wasn't in a bad way either. When he saw her over by the panel he opened his mouth to ask her what she was up to but he fell short when the ceiling opened up to reveal the stars and hundreds of planets spinning slowly in their orbit. He stared up at them in awe and simply let out a soft "wow.." in a response to her question.

It was amazing. The sights the stars the planets everything it was hardly believable. If this was his first time here he wouldn't believe it himself but since he had seen the library before it was hard not to believe what he was seeing. "it's incredible Eirian" He looked over at her and gave a small smile. He couldn't help but blush though as he saw the way the star light twinkled in her eyes making her appear even more beautiful then she already did.