Chapter 8: The Book / Alice

The royal library was indeed royal. It was massive, over 30 floors of many shelves of books, a nearly impossible looking sight. It had to be maintained using magic.

He felt it before, mana. He tried again, and felt it rush into him. It felt like his senses expanded. He had to focus to feel mana before. Now he just felt it as though it was another sense, like touch, or sight. He walked up 29 flights of stairs, having explored each one, and then he felt it.

This feeling was less intense, but it was definitely the same as what he felt before. He headed towards a shelf, and saw a book, different from the rest not in looks, but because it gave of mana. It generated mana inside it, as though it were alive. He may not have known much about magic or magic artifacts, but he knew this was special. He picked up the book and read the title.

“The god and The demon?” He asked out loud.

“What is this? The god must refer to Evan, but what is the demon? I vaguely remember hearing the woman next to him referred to as the demon, does it have anything to do with her, maybe? Is she not just his wife, then?” He opened the book.

Reading the tale of his friend and the person his friend loved, and he thought had been lost. No wonder the god seemed so happy that day. But why does this make them seem like enemies? It details the long fight that shattered many worlds, and how rifts came to be. How mana and magic began, and how this world saw the two most powerful beings in existence. It was a massive book, and he sat for hours, reading every page very carefully. He was addicted. Eventually he finished the book. It said volume 1, and he wondered if there were more. As he closed the book, he heard a voice behind him

“So, you liked the book? You’ve been sitting there for hours without rest or food. I brought some water if you're thirsty.” The voice said

Sora jumped, startled, which wasn’t something that happened very often. He hadn’t felt this persons approach at all. He noticed that she didn’t have any mana that he could detect, and at first he thought that may have been the reason he was unable to feel her approach. But Sora had practiced many things over his life, and had learned skills to feel someone’s approach, even if he was asleep. This person hadn’t made a sound, and didn’t give out a single trace of their existence. It felt as if they hadn’t been there.

The training a person would need to do such a thing, how hard would it be, he wondered. He studied the person. It was a girl, around Sora and Harutos age. About 17. She was short, around the size of Soras chin, with long hair the color of night, eyes as dark as the depths of the void, skin as delicate and pale as porcelain. There were no indications of her having trained in stealth techniques. He was baffled at how this fragile little girl had snuck up on him, presumably multiple times, if he believed what she had said.

“Ah, sorry. I surprised you. I have a skill called stealth. It’s always active, so even if I want to be, it’s hard for people to notice me. Either way, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Alice, what’s yours?” Alice asked.

Sora stopped everything he was doing, even his other thoughts. He could only think of one thing.

He fell in love.

"I’m Sora, it’s nice to meet you” he said, smiling.

“This may be odd to ask of someone I just met, but would you mind going on a date with me?” Asked Sora, suddenly.

Very smooth.

“If you don’t mind me, I would love to” she smiled.

Sora thought that he had just found the most beautiful thing in the world.

“You’re beautiful” he said out loud, not meaning to. It just spilled out.

“How cute! Possibly even too cute” she smiled even more.

“Where would you like to go?” She asked.

“I’ve just arrived here. I’m new to this world. I’m not sure if this is common knowledge, but we were summoned by the king to help stop the war with as few casualties as possible.” Sora explained.

“Oh, so I’ll be the one in charge? That sounds pretty good to me.” She put her face right in front of Soras, barely an inch apart.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Sora blushed, and she kissed him.

He was caught off guard, don’t they normally tease you?

"Meet me here tomorrow. Let's make plans then." Alice said, running off.

“I’ve never met someone this direct, it’s an amazing feeling. I think I just fell for her even more...”, thought Sora. He felt his lips gently, still trying to process everything.

Alice was a quiet girl. She didn’t get into arguments often, and she hasn’t had much energy in her life. A girl, usually alone, with nobody to notice her.

Alice had been born with a special skill. It caused her to seem as though she didn’t even exist, and as she grew it only got worse. Eventually, she was nearly forgotten by everyone. Her parents payed attention to their other children, her friends had a hard time remembering her, and nobody seemed to notice her at all, even if she talked to them. They forgot what she looked like. In their memories she was closer to a humanoid figure. A generic cutout.

Her skill would have been useful for unsavory jobs, but she had been born into decent wealth. As a quiet person, Alice usually kept to herself, so as to not trouble others. Eventually, she found somewhere she would treasure for years to come. Alice came to the royal library. Though forgotten, her intellectual talents were recognized despite her young age. Possibly because nobody could remember how old she was, as they only remembered what a generic person would look like. She got a job in the royal library, wandering around. Literally her job was to just hang out, wander the library, read, and relax. How her job came to exist, she didn’t know, but she was happy. Although she was happy, there’s one thing in her life that she felt more so than everything else.

She was lonely. Very lonely. Imagine hoping that your parents will at least remember you but they don’t, they forget you existed at all. Imagine living with that, everyone the same. But Alice lived her life. She was, after all, doing what she felt she enjoyed most.

One day, Alice stumbled upon a book. A very special book, in fact. She felt it would consume her when she looked at it for the first time. She had felt more scared at that moment than she ever had felt before. She realized if she died there, nobody would remember she had ever even lived at all. She wondered if they would even be able to notice her dead body, or if they would pass right by that as well. Whether it would be left to rot in the libraries halls until it turned to dust. It was at that point she realized she didn’t want to be alone. She didn’t want to be forgotten. For an entire year she tried. She had conversations with the librarian multiple times a day, she talked to the visitors and workers, but she was still forgotten. Despite what she had felt, the fear that had Inspired her, from a book she now treasured, she had nearly given up. Thankfully, before she could truly do so, she saw him. She didn’t know his name, she didn’t know who he was, but still she felt like they were connected by a string. She followed him, and watched what he was doing. She followed him up all 29 flights of stairs, and watched, eyes wide, as he headed directly for the book that she felt the most attached to. She was confused. The book seemed to ward people off, yet it called out to him as it had called out to her. As he read, she watched him. He was beautiful, and she found his occasional mumbling and his thinking out loud to be endearing. She fell in love. No longer did she merely feel connected to him by a flimsy string of fate. Fhe felt for him with a strong rope of love, one she hoped he could grab onto. The more he read, though, the more she worried about how he hadn’t noticed her. She worried the person she had fallen for couldn’t even put her in his eye. Then he finished and seemed to come back to reality. She asked him

“So you liked the book? You’ve been sitting there for hours without rest or food. I’ve brought some water if you’re thirsty.” And was slightly surprised that he took enough notice of her to not only numbly acknowledge her existence, but to even jump at her words.

When she looked into his eyes, she realized something. Something which made her whole world feel like it turned upside down.

When he looked at her, she could tell.

He could see her.

He could truly see her.

She wanted to cry with joy, but she felt it would end if she did, and she wanted to ask him to love her.

She felt, if that had soured their relationship, the first person she met who could see her, may not even like her.

She held herself back, but she was surprised.

He had asked her. He called her beautiful. She realized the boy saw what she looked like, down to the very last detail.

But his face, his blushing face, was too cute. She wanted to tease him.

So she did, she kissed him on the lips. His face when she did was so priceless, she wanted to hang it on her wall.

When they parted ways to prepare for their outing, she went to her room. When she got there she cried, tears of joy and relief spilled out. She sat for an hour, staring, tears spilling from her eyes, and the largest smile you could ever see adorned her beautiful face. It was a shame that nobody could see it. She had grown up to be so beautiful, yet there was nobody to appreciate it. Until now. She was happy. Alice had never thought too much about whether she was beautiful or not, but that was because it didn’t matter if nobody could see her. But now there's someone who can. Her beauty rivaled a goddess, and he was the only one who could see the bright smile that painted her face. She was happy that he alone would have the right to see her. She would be his, and only his. Her thoughts wandered towards the future. What would they do? How would she meet his family, how could she talk to his friends?

No.

She would rather worry about that with him. It’s better to be together than make a decision alone, a thought she couldn’t have had before, but one she truly believed in now. She chose to dedicate her life to him. He brought back her reason to live, after all. She only thought it fair. The date would be in a few days, and she couldn’t be more excited, or more nervous.