Quinn woke the next morning more rested than she'd anticipated, considering the books she’d devoured the night before. Frankly, she actually felt better. She wasn't having any shivers, nor was she overheated. Her body temperature actually felt marginally regulated, which, after the last couple of days, was a very welcome change. It was amazing how quickly something became the norm for her.

Still, the books had helped. Fire Control for Beginners had been especially handy. It taught her to set temperature control from within, which was decidedly rudimentary, and yet... also somehow instinctive once she'd understood the concept. Such a basic skill that she'd been lacking...

She paused and sat up straight. Was today the day? "Do I have that meeting, Aradie?" she asked. There was a low hoot of agreement. "Am I late? I'm not late. Fantastic. Food and then meeting, correct?"

Aradie let out a series of coos and hoots and jumped onto the bed, looking up at Quinn. "Do I want a different room for people to meet in that isn't my office?" Quinn thought about the question for a second before shaking her head. "You know, let's put that on the massive to-do list and worry about the design of that when I don't have a friend sitting in stasis hoping that he can resequence the more vital parts of his system." The owl hooted again and Quinn smiled. "Excellent, I shall get ready then."

Ten minutes later, Quinn was quickly showered and dressed in comfortable jeans and a shirt, and down in the lobby. She glanced around to see Finn working their little arse off as they checked in books and people, answering questions, their eyes lighting up again.

If Finn wasn't genuinely the most dedicated Librarian assistant ever, then they deserved every single acting Oscar in the universe for their role in fooling Quinn and the others into believing that they were. Quinn really hoped that Finn wouldn't prove her trust wrong. But not believing in Finn and not giving him the benefit of the doubt would simply result in her never trusting anybody again, and frankly, Quinn didn't want to be that jaded person. She wanted to believe in people, even if the reality check in the back of her mind constantly reminded her that people could overall be dicks.

Besides, both Aradie and Quinn's gut were telling her she was right to believe in the Ilgonomur. And thus, her mind was made up.

"Librarian?" Dottie said from her knee height. "Are you coming? We're all waiting."

Quinn blinked down at the bench. "But I'm not late. Aradie said I wasn't late."

"Oh, you aren't. We're just all early and you're the last person that we were waiting for."

"Okay then, I'm going to get food first and I will join you in my office shortly."

"Excellent," Dottie said and trotted towards Quinn's office. Quinn looked after the little bench, frowning. Dottie was definitely a character.

Food in hand after a very brief and welcome conversation with Cook, Quinn sat down at the head of her conference table and blinked. Milaro was to her right.

"Ah, Librarian, I am very glad that you joined us."

Quinn was glad she joined them too because there were two people in here that she'd never seen before. One of them was a satyr. Like a miniature version of Uncle Hal. Maybe six feet tall, so not really miniature at all, just less massive. Even though he was sitting down, so perhaps he was taller than she estimated. His skin and fur hues had a blue undertone to the red, but somehow didn't quite make him purple, and his horns were a sleek black.

Next to them was somebody who looked surprisingly like Narilin. Quinn double-checked. No, no, definitely not Narilin. Somehow a little thicker, maybe more masculine, or perhaps they didn't go by pronouns. Quinn wasn't sure. She didn't want to offend this Salosier because they were, well, much less dainty than Narolyn. Build less like a willow, and more like an aged oak.

"Are you going to introduce me?" Quinn asked, putting a smile on her face.

"Well," Milaro drawled. "That was the plan unless you'd like to introduce yourself."

Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Everyone, this is the librarian. Quinn, you already know Siliqua." Milaro started.

But Quinn cut him off, a sudden, brief surge of panic suffusing her. "Shouldn't you be monitoring?"

"It's okay," Siliqua offered her a smile. "Harish and Cadre are there and taking care of everything."

"Sorry," Quinn said and took a deep breath. She forced a smile. "Carry on."

"This is Nishpa, who you already know." Milaro continued. "She's Geneva's aunt."

"Geneva is manning the front desk, or she will be shortly." Nishpa inclined her head. "I've managed to return her to you. I thought you could use her."

Quinn nodded. "She'd been missed."

Malakai cleared his throat ever so slightly before continuing. "Eric, Dottie, Malakai -- you already know. And these lovely two people on your left are Ikeshal. He is, well..."

"I'm Hal's right-hand man," Ikeshal said, cutting Milaro off. "A pleasure to meet you, Librarian." His voice was rumbly, sort of like a small earthquake happening in that very specific spot. Quinn decided she really liked Ikeshal, and she turned, inclined her head by way of greeting, and then turned her attention to the Salosier.

"And this is Escadril." Milaro introduced the last guest. "Escadril is the first advisor to the king of the Salosiers."

"Well met, Librarian. I am here to facilitate discussions on the crisis whose approach appears imminent for all of us."

"Nice to meet you," Quinn said while thinking that Naralin's way of speaking was perhaps an entirely species-related phenomena. Salosier fascinated her. Living trees had been a part of many of Quinn's fantastical childhood imaginings.

"And you." Escadril inclined his head, rustling the leaves that made up his hair.

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"Very well, what's on the agenda?" she asked, hoping she sounded professional enough, like she should be the librarian.

"Well," Dottie spoke up. "Today we'll go over the different factions of the people we believe to be involved in the sabotage of the library. These include the Serpensiril, the Sedimentites, the Esposians, the Ilgonomur, the Aracnios, and any others that we have currently got on our radar."

"So," Quinn asked, "are these just empty suspicions because of the actions of a few, or do we actually have some, you know, solid evidence to condemn an entire species?" She just hoped the last bit didn't come out too sarcastic.

Escadril moved slightly in his seat and the leaves in his hair wavered, lending a soft pine scent to the air. Quinn decided she could sit there and talk to him forever. "It is, I regret to say, largely substantiated."

Quinn nodded, wondering what sort of information was about to come her way.

"I'll do it then, shall I?" Nishpa said, fluttering up to stand on the table so that she was more at eye height with everybody, or slightly above them. Quinn got the distinct impression that Geneva's aunt Nishpa liked commanding attention in rooms full of people who were much larger than her.

Quinn grinned. "Fine, regale me with the information."

Nishpa laughed, and this time her laugh sounded musical. Quinn was happy to hear that she was in much better spirits than she had been when they were on the Esposian Isle. "Well, I don't think we're going to like this information, but it is necessary. To start with, I'll address the Serpensiril. They're the snake in the room, I guess. There are actually multiple factions of Serpensiril. They rarely agree with each other, however, in this case, there are only two factions that do not support the deletion of the library."

"Wait, wait," Quinn said. "Deletion of the Library? Like, not just shutting it down, but they actually want to kill the Library?"

"Well, yes," Nishpa said. "This isn't a fairy tale, Quinn. This isn't a story where we save our favorite character. This is reality where people disagree with what the Library stands for and what it does. They want the power for themselves, in a manner of speaking. Although, I don't think they've figured out that the power isn't picky or choosy about who it kills. Anyway, I have reached out to those two factions, but I am still waiting to hear from them. I was actually hoping you might be able to reach out to them because I cannot establish their exact location. That's how well they have gone into hiding since answering my initial inquiry. Perhaps they'll be more amenable to your interference."

"I can do that," Ikeshal rumbled. "I'll endeavor to locate these factions. Do you know which ones they are? Specifically?"

"Yes, we have the Saratosh and the Dinalian."

"Wow, Dinalians? That's definitely unusual. I'd love to look into why they've turned," Ikeshal said, smiling so widely he showed all of his sharp teeth. "But as I said, I will find them if they can be found."

Nispha nodded and gave him a grateful smile. "Now, I did send some sprites to spy on some of the people we have under suspicion in the Sedimentites. They don't appear to be in complete support of the Serpensiril factions that wish to wipe us out as a whole, but they are sympathetic to them. From what I've been able to gather from our spies, this is due to their lower rungs of affinities and magical strength that the Sedimentite species possesses. That's more of a... they feel weak in comparison, I do believe."

"Are you kidding me?" Ikeshal asked.

Escadril scoffed. "Their entire bodies are magical. They are comprised of magic. Do they not understand the havoc pure chaos would wreak on their forms?" The Salosier advisor seemed extremely perturbed by the information that a species would sympathize with something that could fully destroy them. Quinn couldn't help but agree. She wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to be doing at this meeting, but right now she was learning a lot.

"So," Escadril spoke up. "What is the conclusion about the Sedimentites?"

"I plan to keep the sprites in place and have them simply observe for now." Nishpa shrugged. "Any evidence I've gathered seems far too circumstantial at this stage."

Escadril looked thoughtful before proceeding. "Are you sure the sprites can't be corrupted?"

"Of course, they can't be corrupted. They're my sprites.” She paused with a slight grimace. “Sprites, by their very nature, are incorruptible. They’ll disintegrate if someone manages to catch them and attempt it.”

A flash of sadness passed over Nishpa’s face. “Anyway. They will, however, remain invisible and keep their distance. I may miss some of the information, but this way we'll at least get a lot of information instead of relying on pure speculation."

"Very well, I agree. If there is anything I can do to assist in this way..."

"Do you think," Quinn asked, "if they're not actually in support but more sympathetic, do you think that they would be open to discussions?"

"But what would we discuss with them?" Escadril asked.

Quinn shrugged. "I don't know, but if they're not completely swayed yet, then it stands to reason that they can be leveraged back to our side."

"Hmm, food for thought, young Librarian. I like this. I will think on this and see if I can come up with a solution."

Quinn grinned. She felt like she contributed somewhat.

"And what of the Esposians," Milaro asked, moving the conversation along.

Quinn looked over at Malakai, standing at the door, extremely bored. She couldn't blame him. He wasn't necessarily a part of the discussion. But he did need to know all the information, which made it important that he be there.

"The Esposians," melancholy suffused Nishap’s next words. "I... I don't particularly like the way things have gone for this species and our relationship to them, frankly. I was hoping I'd have better news for us. It saddens me to let you know. But since the incident a couple of days ago with Adrito and Latia and the destruction of the Ishiposa Isle, most of the Esposians have gone into no contact with outsiders and have performed hostile takeovers of the isles they’re on. Anyone who isn’t inline with their thinking… are probably trapped.

She took a breath before continuing. “And they are refusing any other Fae help. There are only four factions, four isles, not in support right now in the main Esposion system. Those who we can trust are as follows: the Ecksha, the Drayna, the Palirsh, and the Tannen. Those are the four Esposion factions we can somewhat rely on. They are, however, as you are all aware, not the strongest factions. The Tannen are Eugea's faction. They are extremely grateful for us having rescued the victims. And are very interested in how she was healed so that the others might be fully rescued as well. Those people you saved were on a new settlement mission when they were taken over. So, they are a lot angrier than I would think the rest of them are."

Quinn nodded. "So, the rest of them... have you lost contact?"

"Pretty much. They've decided to separate themselves from the rest of the Fae kingdom and there is sadly nothing I can do about that." The room fell silent and Quinn could feel the sadness in every single person in it.

"Is it unredeemable?" Quinn asked. "Can we not reverse it?"

Nishpa shook her head. "Right now, they are still under the influence of... whatever they're under the influence of. It isn't like the people on the isle that we rescued and are still healing, by the way. Luckily, several of the people in the Tannen and the Drayna line have extremely strong healers and we are still working on getting them healed. Which is why, Quinn, I really need you for the next days that you are here to work with myself and Milaro and figure out exactly what it was that you did to heal Eugea."

Quinn blinked. How could she have forgotten how important that was? Sure, she’d had that brief encounter with the Library as soon as she returned. But she’d completely forgotten to talk to Milaro about it. Maybe the fact that the fire awoke in her had simply outweighed the very real fact that she had brought somebody back from the brink. "Oh, I'll do it," she said.

Milaro turned to Quinn and said, "What did you do?"

"Didn't she tell you? Did nobody tell you?" Nishpa asked, her eyes wide with shock.

"Well, obviously not, or I wouldn't be asking," Milaro said. Everybody else around the table blinked, including Ikeshal and Escadril.

Quinn couldn’t meet her mentor’s eyes. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t told him. “I’m so sorry. With everything else I totally forgot to mention it.”I healed Eugea of the after-effects of that book."