The Library [EverlyxAndy]

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"Please.. don't die.. Live, for me."

Eirian gave Jason a desperate look, her hand clinging to his shirt as he hugged her close while on her knees. The wave of blackness ebbed ever higher into her mind and she found herself giving in to it. Before she could say anything else, she was overwhelmed by it. She closed her eyes and simply stopped fighting, her body relaxing against his as he stood once more.

The Guardian had fallen. It seemed as though the Library knew that it had just lost its last protector. The fires that had been smoldering now roared in earnest, cutting across the wooden floor and making it impossible for Jason to leave the level. Shimmering like a beacon of hope, the door appeared behind him, leaving him with the option of escape to try and find a different time or burning alive with his beloved in his arms.
 
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As she died in his arms he broke down again. He held her close and pressed his head against hers. The tears fell freely from his eyes as he held her close to him hoping against hope that she would come back to him. That she would open her eyes or that he would open his and that this would all just be a terrible nightmare. As the flames moved closer to him he knew that he was running out of time.

He gently laid her down and kissed her forehead and gently stroked her hair back "..I'll find you again..I promise...I'll fix this...I love you.." He shook his head and finally tore himself away from her and pushed his way out the door and into the cool forest air. He panted and coughed as he tried to clear the smoke from his lungs. All the while he was crying from losing the love of his life in one of the worst ways he could imagine.
 
Eirian remained motionless as she was laid on the floor. As Jason stood and left, the flames reached her. In seconds she was nothing but ash, though Jason would not see that. The door swung closed behind him exactly as it had before, locking with a faint click as he coughed and tried to orient himself. It faded as he cried, gone before he had even finished his second intake of breath on this side of the door.

His time in the Library had been short this time, yet it seemed that had not been the case in his world. When he had entered, darkness had been beginning to fall. Yet now it was bright with sunshine as though it were noon, with rays of light filtering down through the trees to shine on his face. It was impossible to say what day it was, but his motorcycle that he had left to sit and wait was covered in a layer of dead leaves and had grass growing around the tires.
 
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Jason looked around and paused as he fell silent. How long had it been since he had been in there? He looked over at his bike and frowned at the leaves and long grass that was growing there. He stood up and made his way over and wiped off the dead leaves and then closed his eyes as he felt more tears fall down his face. He finally got to hear her say that she loved him and now she was gone. Burnt to ashes because of something. What had happened to cause the fire he had no idea but he was going to stop it.

He wiped his eyes and let out a slow breath and quickly stood back up and looked over at the tree praying that the door would be there. If it was he would run straight to the door and unlock it and go back inside. If it wasn't he would sit down on top of the bike and cross his arms as he waited for the door to reappear. He would go back in there. He would see his Eirian again even if it killed him.
 
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It took four hours this time, but the door did appear once more, looking identical to always.

[... It's late and I just got home from work. That is my only excuse. Kill me.]
 
(haha it's ok I don't mind don't worry :) )

He was tired and hungry but he had not moved from that spot. He was waiting for the door to reappear and reappear it did. As soon as it appeared he jumped to his feet and all but ran towards the door. He had the key out of his pocket in just a second. In just another short second he had the door unlocked and pushed aside as he all but ran inside the library again.
 
Eirian was standing with her back to him, putting a few books back in to place. Once she heard him step in, she turned and blinked in surprise, then smiled. She looked identical to the very first day he had seen her - she was even wearing the same dress. There was no sign of a fire, no ash, no toppled bookcases. No windows were broken, and there was no sign of blood or the jewelry that he had given her. Everything was as it had been before.

"Jason. I thought you said you were coming back yesterday," she said, tilting her head at him. "I started picking out some books I thought you might like to help you understand the other worlds. Would you like to come see?" she offered, smiling at him again as she offered her hand to him without realizing what sort of turmoil was going on in his mind.
 
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Jason stared at her with wide eyes. He was pale and panting heavily as he stared at her. He was only just understanding how hard it was going to be to ve with her. To run the risk that every time he came to see her she would either be younger and not remember him or that she would be older and not able to do anything or even worse he would see that reality with her getting caught in that fire.

He didn't care though he stepped towards her and hugged her tightly and held her close to him. "Eirian....your alive..thank god..." He felt the tears running down his face again that would fall onto her shoulder. His body shook as he tried to hold back the sobs that threatened to rack his body.
 
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"Oh!" Eirian squeaked, caught off guard as he immediately hugged her and just held her there. This was actually quite pleasant - he was warm and the hold was not uncomfortable by any means. She smiled a bit and hugged him back. Her mother had taught her to be affectionate and what it meant, after a certain stranger had intervened. Of course, Eirian had no recollection of Jason from her childhood. She had been too young.

"Of course I am alive! I know that you were quite shaken to learn that Earth is not the only world out there, but I am not a figment of your imagination. Were you worried I was going to disappear or something?" she asked, laughing a bit as she pulled away to look up at him with a gentle smile. She reached up, carefully brushing a tear away with her fingers. "Do not cry. You are here now. I'm just as real as you are."
 
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He swallows hard and shakes his head and stares at her as she pulled back to wipe his eyes "you don't understand Eirian....I..I just have so much to tell you so much has happened..i hardly even know where to begin.." He swallows hard again and pulled her into another hug and held her close.

After a while he finally stopped hugging her and let her go and swallowed hard as he sat down in one of the nearby chairs. He had been through an emotional roller coaster like no other the past day and a part of him wanted it to be over already. He looked up at her and without even waiting for her to sit down he went into his tale. Telling her about how he hadn't been back for two years and when he came back she was older much older. He then went to explain about how he had met her mother and her as a child, then he went to explain about the fire..and how he had tried to save her but failed.

"after I left the burning library..I waited outside for a few hours waiting for the door to reappear..hoping that it would bring me to you again. And..well..here I am now.."
 
Eirian blinked in confusion, not understanding why he had a lot to tell her, but willing to listen. As he sat and began to explain, she took a seat across from him as well. She leaned back in her chair and simply watched him, taking it all in. First he told her that he had not seen her for two years. That was impossible, it had been two days. Perhaps one day here was a year in his world. Alright, that was possible and believable. He did in fact look a bit different, so it was plausible. She would even call it likely. However, when he went on to tell her about how she had aged and how he had traveled back in time and how the Library had been burning, she frowned. That was all highly impossible.

"Are you feeling alright? You do look a bit pale.. I think exposing you to everything the other day may have been a bad idea in such a large dose. Perhaps it would be wise to lay down," she suggested, not sure what else to say. He seemed insane. How could he possibly have seen her as an old woman? She was young! And the Library would never permit itself to be set aflame. Jason was simply unhinged, the poor dear. He needed to relax.
 
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He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "Eirian..I'm telling you the truth..I met you and your mother when you were just a kid..you broke another vase and she was chasing you around trying to get you to sit still..I'm the stranger who told her to teach you a bit more about emotions."

He leaned forward and set his hands on hers and looked into her eyes "..the library..it doesn't just go day by day..it goes to a specific time zone..I can walk through and I could see you here as an old woman or as a baby..I saw your mother she looks like you for the most part except she had blonde hair..I'm telling you the truth."
 
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"It can't be the library," Eirian insisted, giving him a frown. "I would know if it was! We have visitors who are here every single day, and they never say that things are out of order. I wake up every day and I remember everything that happened the day before. I do not suddenly get younger or older or anything like that. If those things are happening, then it's your world, not mine."

It was very upsetting to think that her world could change at any given moment, and it was obvious that she didn't want to think about it or speak about it anymore. Being reminded of her mother certainly hadn't helped. She frowned more and pulled her hands away from his, standing up and turning away.

"Is there anything else I can help you with or are you going to explore on your own?"
 
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He stared up at her wide sad eyes. What was he supposed to do? How could he prove to her that what he had seen. What had happened was the truth. Then he thought about the room she had taken to him when she was older. Maybe if he revealed that he knew about that she would believe him.

He stood up and stepped around to look into her eyes "..Eirian..I'm telling you the truth..when I came to see you that second time after two years..I confessed to you that I was in love with you. You took me to a secret room that we had to get to by jumping off the railing on the steps..you touched a panel and you were able to open the ceiling up to show me the stars and the planets that were in the universe.."
 
Eirian stared up at him, thoroughly upset. He had already proven that he was telling the truth when he brought up her mother and described her, why did he feel the need to keep going? She didn't know, and she didn't understand why he would stand there and remind her of things that it was impossible for her to remember. It hadn't happened yet. And at this rate, it was not going to. She looked away from him, frowning as he spoke of her favorite room in the Library. How many times had her mother caught her sleeping in there? More than she could count. The thought pained her deeply.

"I believe you. I think I should go. You are welcome to stay, if you like," she said softly, gazing downward at her hands.
 
He watches her for a moment before he realized that she had believed him. But the more he had been speaking about the things the more he had been hurting her. Only now was he realizing that.

"E..Eirian..I'm sorry..I..I didn't mean to hurt you by bringing up your mother..I just..I thought you didn't believe me..and..I.." He sighs a bit and looks to the side before he looks back at her "..I love you Eirian..whether you feel the same way about me..or ever will..I don't know..but..you had to have because the last things you said to me before you died in the fire were that you loved me..when I heard those words I had never felt happier..I only wanted to be with you for the rest of my life..you mean everything to me Eirian..and..I'll wait as long as it takes..that's a promise I intend to keep."
 
It was all too much.

There was just too much to take in. First she had been forcibly reminded of her mother more than once in a five minute span. Then there was the concept that time in the Library was not the same as time everywhere, and that Jason had somehow gone both forward and backward in time just by using this one location. Now she also had the stress of knowing that for some reason, this boy was claiming to love her. It was only her second time meeting him, the first having been two days prior when he was so nervous and confused he could barely string together a sentence. How was she supposed to react to this now?

"I'm sorry," she murmured, shaking her head and turning from him. She walked over to the stairs and started walking up them. Died in a fire. Met her mother. Love. It was all giving her a migraine. How could she be the Guardian if she didn't even know how the Library worked? This was going to upset her all day. She frowned and went up more, stopping after several levels to just sit in silence on a bench. Why couldn't he have just said yes and gone to see the books she picked out for him? She just wanted a nice, normal visit.. not this disaster.
 
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Jason sat down with a heavy sigh and put his face in his hands. What the hell was he supposed to do now? he had screwed everything up. There was no way this was going to work anymore. He had ruined her day by constantly reminding her of her mother. Then..he sighed and shook his head. He had screwed this all up and there was no way to fix it at the moment but to give her time. He didn't know what else to do but that.

Instead he stood up and walked down the three levels that would bring him to the earth level. Once there he made his way to the table where the books would be set up. The stacks her smaller since the first time he had seen the stacks five years had passed since he had last been to the library. He gave a small sigh and then sat down and started flipping through the books she had set out for him.
 
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Eirian curled her legs up in front of her on the bench, leaning back and looking up at the endless spiral of levels above. She wasn't really sure what to think. Here she was, not even twenty years old, being told that somebody she had only met once was in love with her and had seen her several times already and had been back and forth in time. There was no way that Jason could love her. That was just wrong. She didn't know him and he didn't know her. Did he even know her middle name? Her favorite color? She frowned and sighed in dismay. Perhaps it was best to just forget about it and let him find his own way home in time. Maybe he'd just forget about her and not come back.

"Guardian Eirian. What are you doing?" a voice interrupted her musings. She blinked and tipped her head up, realizing that she had been joined on her bench without even realizing it. It was Marielle, an old friend. The girl was younger than Eirian by two years, but the Guardian often suspected that Marielle was far wiser than she. She had long brown hair that curled up into ringlets, currently pinned back from her face and exposing a pair of fluffy ears. Her dress was layered in a myriad of pastel colors, tied around the waist in the style of an Earth kimono. A long soft tail was poking out behind her, swaying with curiosity as she watched her friend.

"I am thinking, Marielle. There is a lot on my mind today," Eirian admitted with a half smile and a shrug. "There is a new visitor to the library. His name is Jason. He claims that he has been forward and backward in time, and with what he says about what he saw, I believe him.. but he said that he watched me die, and saw my mother, and that he loves me. I've met him once and know nothing about him. Surely such love is impossible."

"Maybe," Marielle mused, then she smiled, her blue eyes bright. "Or maybe he is telling the truth and he does love you. True love is so romantic! I know you've read all of the lovely romance books in here. Haven't you wondered what it would be like to be swept off your feet and dance around a room with some handsome gentleman? Or.. or to be kissed! Such a thing would be amazing! You should go ask for a kiss from him."

"What?!" Eirian yelped. "Why?!"

"Well because people say that if you love somebody and you kiss them then you'll just know that you love them and you should be together. So go do it!" the Kitsune insisted, nudging the Guardian off the bench and into motion down the stairs.
 
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Jason sat in silence as he read the books Eirian set out for him. And he was glad she had. So far he had loved each book that she had set out for him that he had been able to read.

He guessed there were about ten books in total and he had managed to read one of them so far and he had just started the second. He was one of the fastest readers in his class and he always remembered whatever he read it was almost a curse in a way but he enjoyed it it was fun to be able to pick out random pieces of info out if thin air.

He wondered how Eirian was doing and what she was thinking about. He knew that he had put her through a lot in just the few short minutes he had been in this time but he hoped she'd forgive him soon.
 
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