The Library [EverlyxAndy]

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"Eirian? Eirian! Get down from there!"

"But Momma..!"

"No! Get down!"

The Library was far more active than it had been the last time Jason went inside. There was nobody on the level that he entered, but the voices from the next level up were easily carrying to his ears. A resounding crash echoed through the entire Library, followed by a squeal and rapid footsteps. About a minute later, two people ran by on the staircase. The first was a child who was perhaps four years old, with long red hair hanging down to her knees. She wore a short, emerald green dress and a yellow paper crown, and her feet were bare. Hot on her heels came an older woman with blonde curls and a long blue gown. She had a silver circlet in her hair and several books in her arms as she tried to catch the child.

"Get back here!"

"Catch me, catch me!"
 
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Jason gave a slight jump as the two ran by. He looked at them with wide eyes and rubbed the back of his head. What was going on here?

"Um..excuse me ma'am but um..can you help me? I'm trying to find the Guardian Eirian..have you seen her anywhere?"

He wasn't sure what was going in and a part of him was honestly scared to find out. He just wanted to find Eirian and get with her again.
 
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The blonde woman paused and turned to Jason, slightly out of breath. She was about an inch shorter than Eirian had been, but her eyes were exactly the same. Blinking at his question, she started to giggle, her cheeks rosy with amusement.

"Guardian Eirian? I'm afraid that runt has run off after breaking yet another vase. As if I've got nothing better to do than chase her around all day mending priceless artifacts!" she exclaimed, tossing her armful of books over the railing. The books all sailed off in different directions, going back where they belonged. She started to say something else, but then the child came running back up the stairs.

"Momma! You were supposed to catch me!" she huffed, pouting until the blonde woman smiled and scooped her up.

"We have a visitor darling, and he's looking for you! Say hello, Eirian," the woman instructed.

"Hello!" the child said, her voice cheerful and sweet as she gave Jason a smile. "Are you looking for a book? We have lots! All of them!"
 
Jason paused and stared at the young version of Eirian. It finally hit him. Somehow the library had sent him back in time or something and now he was looking at Eirian as a child and her mother.

Jason looked at the woman and then swallowed hard "i um..no I'm not looking for a book I'm um..my name is Jason and um..if I could borrow a moment of your time I'd like to talk to you about something.."
 
"Go play, honey," the blonde woman said, setting Eirian down and shooing the child away. Once she had taken off downstairs, the woman turned to Jason and smiled at him, tilting her head in much the same way that Eirian had when she first met Jason.

"What is it that you'd like to talk about, dear? And relax, I don't bite," she added with a laugh, patting him on the arm and starting to walk down the stairs with him at a more leisurely pace than her daughter.
 
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Jason rubbed the back of his head as he watched the child form of the girl he loved run off to play. It was kinda funny to see her like this. If only her mother could see the way she would change in the future.

Jason looked at the woman and nodded as he started to follow her "..uum..iI'm not entirely sure how to explain this because I'm not sure what's happened myself but..i know your daughter. Her future self when she has truly become the Guardian of the library.."
 
The woman walked along with him, nodding as he explained who he was and how he had apparently traveled through time. It seemed to come as no surprise to her. And honestly, it didn't. She had been Guardian of the Library for a very, very long time. As such, she knew how it worked far better than Eirian did. She had a firm grasp of its nature, and she gave Jason a smile.

"You must be from Earth, then. Congratulations on finding the key. I am afraid I can not help you much. The Library is not going to shift time on your world with you still in it. If you want to find her as she was when you first met her or after, you'll have to leave and try again," she explained. "I am glad to hear that she did become the Guardian, though. I always worried she'd run off to do something else. She tells me every day how she longs to be a princess in a far off castle or some nonsense like that."
 
He rubs his eyes at her explanation. It made sense but what about the door disappearing on him? He couldn't risk that and what about the Eirian from the future that he knew? Would she be left looking for him? Or would she be frozen and waiting for him to come through again?

"But what if the door disappears after I go through? I can't risk that..There has to be some way I can reach her or speak to her. From here. The last time I left the library the door didn't reappear for two years.." he looked at her and swallowed hard "..I'm in love with your daughter ma'am..I'm know things would be hard for us since she's the guardian. But I can't deny the way I feel about her.."
 
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"What you have to accept and understand is that risk is necessary for achievement."

She paused and smiled at him, stopping in her steps entirely just to face him. From this angle, it would be clear to him that she was about the same age Eirian had been the last time he had seen her. Her skin was covered in fine lines but there was still a healthy spark of life in her eyes. She gave him a look full of care and compassion.

"You have chosen an extremely difficult path, young one. Choosing to love a Guardian is hard, particularly for one from your world. Our time runs differently, sometimes in both directions at once. You are going to have to risk the door disappearing if you want to see her again as she was. Otherwise, you will be trapped in here, waiting for Eirian to grow up. It is a risk, yes, but it is necessary. My recommendation would be to leave. If the door is there, open it and check to see if it is the time you desire. If it is, come inside and stay. If it isn't, close the door and try again."
 
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Jason gave a soft sigh and rubbed his eyes. He knew she was right. If he stayed and waited for her to grow up he'd be in his 40's by the v time she was old enough. But then the issue was she wouldn't know him like that she would know him as a gut who waited for her to grow up.

It was a risk but he needed to leave and come back in and hope it was the right time frame. The one his Eirian was in. Even then he might get in a day too early or a day too late. He had to take the risks.

"Thanks..for the advice I just..i hope I'll be able to find the right time zone before the door disappears. And before I end up in my 80's.." With that he turned to go back to the door. When he reached it he paused then looked back at her.

"Your daughter makes a great guardian in the future. But um..if you don't mind me saying maybe you should help her with her more emotional knowledge all she seems to understand about emotions have been what she has read about them in books." With that he turned and left the library again. Hoping that it didn't dissappear when he shut the door behind him.
 
The Guardian nodded once and watched him walk off, then turned and chased the little Eirian down the stairs. She knew that if she lingered, the door would not appear. Once she was gone, it was there for Jason, simply waiting for him. It opened with ease, letting him out into the forest, which was beginning to grow dark. The trees were thick and tall enough that it was much darker there than it was out of the forest. If he went back into the Library, chances were that it was going to be pitch black when he came back out.

Once he was outside, the door swung closed with a soft click, automatically locking once more. It slowly faded from sight, leaving behind an empty tree trunk as it had been before, when Jason was forced to wait for two years. However, this time, it did not take so long. The door was gone for a mere ten minutes before it reappeared, looking as though it had been there all along.
 
Jason jumped when the door shut behind him and locked. He quickly turned to open the door but it had already faded away "no! No no no no!!" He punched the tree and fell to the ground cursing his luck.

He didn't know what to do now other then wait. He walked over to his bike and sat on the seat with crossed arms as he waited.

When the door finally reappeared he jumped up and ran to it and quickly before it had a chance to vanish again. He quickly unlocked it and threw the door open and stepped inside and looked around for a moment before he spoke "Eirian?.."
 
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The Library was not the same as the previous three times he had entered. He was on the same level, but there was no familiar layer of dust in the corners. Instead, there were piles of ash. Most of the books were missing from the shelves - several on the floor, a few scattered on tables. Bookcases were tipped over, windows were shattered. From where he stood, he could even see that pieces of the stone railing were cracked and some missing altogether. The entire place smelled of fire. If he chose to walk inside, he would pass flames still going. The entire Library seemed to be on fire, with pockets of flames at every turn, devouring the books inside.
 
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His eyes went wide with disbelief. This couldn't be happening. The library wouldn't allow something like this to happen. Neither would the guardians.

He ran inside and looked around quickly. If there was anyone in there he needed to find them. If there was even the smallest chance that Eirian was in there he had to find her. "Eirian! Eirian! It's Jason! Where are you?!"
 
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Eirian was sprawled out on the stairs several steps down from the level Jason was on. She was laying at an odd angle, having fallen in her desperation to run downstairs. A slew of books were below her, most having slid down the stairs by her side when she fell. She had been trying to gather up as many as she could, to save them, but she did not have a chance. Fighting fire alone was impossible.

Smoke was filling the stairway and Eirian lay unmoving, her heart pumping slowly. Her eyes were open but unfocused, a small pool of blood starting to spread under her from an unseen wound. She was younger again, about the same as she had been when they first met. Her circlet was gone, having fallen off, and her fingers were curled around the one book she had managed to hang on to as she fell. Even that grip was loosening, causing the book to slowly fall with a thud on the stair.
 
His eyes grew wide when he saw her and he ran down the stairs and grabbed her. He also grabbed the book that she was holding onto. Clearly something about the book was important enough to have risked her life to grab it. He gently lifted her up carrying her princess style. He rested her head against his shoulder in an attempt to keep her head from bouncing around too much.

"Stay with me Eirian..i'm getting you out of here..it'll be ok" He quickly started moving towards the door to get out of the library as he felt the flames licking at his feet. He had to get her out of here. There had to be a way to get her out of here and he wasn't going to stop trying to find a way to get her out of there. "if the door doesn't work I'll find another way to get you out of here..I swear it.."
 
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"Jason..?"

Eirian blinked slowly, confused as she was suddenly lifted from her position on the stairs. She could feel his arms beneath her, supporting her as he laid her against him in a way that enabled her to be carried. It was good that he thought to brace her head on his shoulder considering she felt much too tired to hold it up on her own. She just wanted to sleep. The urge was there, in the back of her mind. Just close her eyes and let the darkness that was lapping at the edges of her consciousness consume her. Yet Jason's voice reached out to her and she focused on him instead for the moment.

"I can't leave," she murmured after a moment, finally understanding what he was saying. He was trying to get her out, but she knew that she was unable to leave. She was the Guardian, and this was her Library. If it burned, so would she. That was what she was there for. She had failed to protect it and now had to face the consequences.
 
Jason shook his head and ran towards the door and tried to go through but something stopped him. He cursed and tried to go through again but once again that invisible force stopped him. "No! this isn't fair! There has to be a way to get you out of here! some how! anywhere! there has to be a way!"

He looked down at her and swallowed hard as the tears threatened to fall through his eyes "Eirain..there has to be a way please...I can't lose you..I love you Eirain..there has to be a way to get you out of here..to get you to safety.."
 
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Eirian stayed quiet as Jason tried twice to use the door. She had tried to warn him, but now he had to see for himself. Never could she leave this place. Before it had seemed like a promise of a quiet, happy life. Now it was more of a curse, trapping her inside as the walls burned. It wouldn't be long before Jason's door was consumed as well. Already the flames were advancing closer. She knew they didn't have much time.

"Jason, I'm sorry. I'm so.. sorry.." she murmured, her voice quiet as she strained to speak to him and keep her focus. "Please.. don't stay. Go home. You can't take me out of here. Please, Jason. I can't lose you too."

"I love you."
 
He closes his eyes tightly and falls to his knees and holds her as close as he could as the tears started to fall from his eyes. He finally got to be with the girl he loved but he couldn't save her. The library was burning and the two of them were going to burn with it. There was no way he was going to leave her to die while he saved his own skin. He would sooner die with her.

"no..I'm not leaving you Eirian..i'm staying..I'd rather die with you then lose you again..I can't lose you..I love you too much. I could never live with the guilt that I saved myself but I couldn't save you..I can't..without you I don't have anything to live for..to look forward to on the outside..I need you in my life Eirian.." He refused to give up. He slowly climbed to his feet and looked around. There had to be a way to get her out of here he would get her out of here or die trying.
 
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