Quinn left her office with purpose in her stride. It was home, here in the Library, but for the first time in a long while, she felt utterly alone.

That's when she realized that, apart from Aradie, she was the most alone she'd been since coming to the Library.

From that first moment on, from that first landing where she'd heard the heartbeat of the Library, the sensations she'd experienced in the core room, and even Lynx's stumbling, stuttering way to guide her into the world that rubbed her the wrong way for several days, she had been connected to the Library in such an intimate way. Both Lynx and the Library were able to discern her every thought for a while until she built her defenses. And even after that, they were always there, this solid, reassuring presence.

Now... right now, it hit different.

Quinn paused, standing off to the side of the middle of the Library, and closed her eyes for just a second. She could still sense the people and everything about the Library, but not so much the Library itself, the personification of it. Lynx was there ever so distantly, and she had to concentrate hard to try and focus on him. It was easy to let go of the thread, and while she knew they were still there, they felt so far away that it was like her entire mind was back to being just her own.

It was a very sobering feeling for it was strange how quickly she had grown used to their company; how quickly she had simply become a part of everything the Library was.

Quinn paused, considering the whole experience, and opened her eyes.

Nobody was looking at her, well, except Aradie, who was perched nearby on the back of a chair watching her intently. Quinn patted her shoulder and the bird swooped in, but perhaps because Aradie was quite in tune with her own thoughts, the owl simply sat, offering a very soft wing brush against Quinn's cheek.

"Thanks," she whispered to the bird, who said nothing, but Quinn felt an overwhelming sense of acceptance. She was quite surprised that Malakai or Milaro had not followed her out of her office. After all, everybody always seemed to want a piece of her time, apart from the couple of weeks she'd spent absorbing every book in sight. Quinn hadn't really had much alone time, and even then she was fulfilling people's expectations about becoming the strong Librarian she needed to be.

It was very much a lot.

She started moving again, feeling oddly free despite the weight of the owl on her shoulder. She slipped past everybody reading books, behind them, between the seating areas and the bookshelves. They bent their heads down, discussing texts, arguing methodologies. There had to be at least a hundred people in the Library right now. She walked through the main section and worked her way through to the corridor that let to the beginner weapons area where she had originally found the book short sword she'd only partially successfully used to kill the engorged bookworms.

The path to the room was no longer filled with gloom. It was easier to navigate, friendlier, and there were bookshelves spanning the floor to the ceiling the entire way through.

She frowned at the sheer amount of reading material on the way to the room.

There appeared to be a lot more than the few hundred books they required to open the combat section that had suddenly returned to the shelving units. She'd have to ask the Library about that later. Had they had some locked away? Were more missing than the Library initially showed?

As she approached the small room that held all of the beginner texts for the combat branch, she marveled at the fact that it was cleaned up and presentable again. The wooden dummy that stood at the far end of the room was no longer dilapidated and partially broken, but there were actually two of them and they were sturdy. They showed some signs of wear and tear, and yet Quinn was quite certain they wouldn't buckle or splinter under any swings from her this time... her and her wooden sword.

She paused, looking around, and finally noticed next to the dummies at the end of the room was a double door.

"Do you think that's where the branch will open?" She asked Aradie, who cooed in her ear and didn't say anything else. It was quite marvelous how the owl just knew to let Quinn have her own time and space.

"Well, I don't care how it was done before. I think that's where the doors will open into the combat section. We should probably focus on opening some more of the Library. Gather up the right books. Expand a bit..." She said the words out loud and had them echo back to her. There were a few tables scattered around this large room, which, if Quinn was being honest, was much larger than she remembered it being when she first came in here to learn some skills to kill the bookworms in the first place.

Not that she was surprised. The Library changed as was necessary.

"You know what," she said suddenly realizing, "I've never been to the upper levels. Will you show me the way, Aradie?"

The owl hooted and launched herself from Quinn's shoulder. She wasn't exactly sure how Aradie constantly flew slow enough for Quinn to keep up with. She'd never been an expert in aerodynamics, least of all magical aerodynamics, so she simply followed after the owl.

Several people looked up as she entered the main part of the Library again and waved at her. Quinn waved back, feeling a warm surge of belonging. Despite how she'd got there, and all the harrying situations she'd been involved in since arriving -- the Library would be gone without her. For all she knew, chaos may have even started devouring the universe again.

Purpose.

It felt good.

She smiled to herself and went about her walk with her bird. The owl led her to a series of spiral staircases. Quinn frowned at them.

They were beautiful wrought iron spiral staircases like the sort that led up to her quarters, and up from the core.

Two led down, but the middle one led up.

"Why are there three spiral staircases in a row?" she asked. Aradie raised an owl eyebrow, which was some sort of feat of facial reconstruction perhaps, and then Aradie very slowly and deliberately shrugged.

"Oh, you're gonna be like that?"

Aradie pointed a wing up and soared up the stairs. Quinn followed using the middle staircase. The other ones probably led down into some more of the specially tailored reading habitats or something. Or maybe they'd end up telling here there were Library mole people who kept the foundation of the Library intact or something.

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Frankly, these days, not much surprised her anymore.

She wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting from the upper level. It wasn't that she never wanted to visit it, but her instructors always had Tim and Tom, or other golems fetch her books, and thus, she'd never really had a reason to venture upstairs. But she'd been sure that looking over the railing that looked out over the main part of the Library would be quite a lovely view.

After traipsing up the steps, she wasn't disappointed in the slightest.

"Wow," she said, breathing out softly. "Doesn't it look majestic from up here?"

Aradie cooed low and came to grip the railing right next to her.

Beneath her the Library sprawled out. Rows and rows of bookcases. The seating arrangements all made much more sense from this overhead view, too. A group of several friends walked into the dining hall and out of her view, chatting animatedly.

She watched the check in desk as well. The massive wooden structure seemed impossibly large as she watched the assistants scuttle around in it, returning books and speaking to patrons. Eric had returned to the front desk and she noticed Finn was there, as was Danio the centaur. And a couple of assistants she didn't recognize. She looked over at the different little groups scattered all throughout the large main section, heads bowed over books, books exchanging hands, excited discussions taking place.

Tim and Tom, Carty and the others, all ferrying books back and forth.

It felt like the scene was in a snow globe she'd shaken. It was something she could watch for hours if she let herself.

However, after several minutes, she turned around and took a really good look at the balconied section of the Library in which she was standing. As per Quinn's previous wish, it appeared the Library had put signs everywhere. Overhead, in beautiful filigree lettering, was "Bardic and Musical." Quinn moved around the large space. There were instruments here and there, both in and out of the bookcases. The seating arrangements up here were sort of odd and strange-looking chairs, seating areas that—

"Oh my gosh," Quinn said, "are these— are these, like, soundproof?"

Aradie nodded her head. "So you can sit and play an instrument, or sing, or do anything musically related, and you're not disturbing anybody else."

Precisely, the words shot across Quinn's mind as Aradie snapped it out with clarity.

"This is really cool." Quinn was fascinated. Although she also understood it. Because if you were practicing magical singing in any way, then wouldn't those people hearing it be effected by it? It was much safer to block out the sound.

There were obvious gaps in the shelves that Quinn could see, and yet, so many books.

"Does the Library not lend out that many books?" She asked. She'd always thought 18,000 books was not enough for a universal Library. But then again, those were the ones out on borrow at the time. She wondered if Lynx had perhaps stopped lending them out at some stage. Then again, she'd already added another almost 4,000 to the list by opening the culinary branch.

Aradie shook her head from side to side, and then spoke into Quinn's mind. It is not always the way for books to be borrowed. Most people use the books here, so 18,000 books being borrowed is quite a lot.

"Makes sense and yet... I would think people would want to take them away and study them forever." Quinn mumbled. Although, in hind sight. Perhaps that was just her. Maybe she got her book hoarding ways from her heritage. "Anyway, let's have a look at the other sections."

So she walked through the alchemical and medicinal area. The alchemy area had different terrariums set up, along with several small alchemy stations. They looked like something only capable of assiting with beginner work.

Then came the horticulture area which held what appeared to be a plethora of differing soil basins. Quinn wasn't even going to pretend to understand.

Across the other side, down the entire lengh of that terrace, was the crafting area. There were looms, and small tanning benches, and several what appeared to be anvil set ups. Quinn frowned. The way they were all set up with little cubicles could only mean this too was sound proofed. She was excited to see what these branches would eventuate as.

Finally, having backtracked a bit, Quinn sighed and leaned over the railing at the very end, close to where she had fought the bookworms.

"This really is beautiful. Sort of glad it's my home," she said out loud.

Aradie rubbed her face against Quinn's, and Quinn laughed. "Thank you. But you know what, Aradie? It's really missing something. What do you think it's missing?"

Aradie cooed, as if to ask her what.

"Stories," Quinn said. "It's missing stories."

Aradie leaned back, looking quizzically at Quinn. "It's OK, you may not understand."

But the idea wouldn't let go of Quinn, and she made a promise herself that she would talk to the Library about it when things had calmed down a little.

Anyway, she meandered back down and toward the dining hall, intent on taking in some food, when she paused, eyeing the entrance to the restricted vault.

"You know what," she said to no one at all, not even her bird. "I think I would like a beautiful view with a lovely meal."

Aradie launched herself off Quinn's shoulder with a slightly reproachful hoot. "You don't have to get..." But the bird was already gone, and Quinn was quite sure that shortly she would have some sort of meal that her definitely not fetching owl had gotten her.

Quinn approached the restricted vault, placing both hands on either side of the narrow, double-doored filigree doors. She pushed them open. There was a hissing click as the air whooshed into the room, and Quinn was once again made breathless by the beautiful view of the starry skies beyond them.

She closed the doors, knowing that Aradie would figure out her own way in, and looked over at the seating area that was still exactly as she had asked for it. set up in a booth sort of dinnete way so she had a table she could use while she watched the view. As she moved toward her destination, she brushed her fingers across the cages that housed all of the books. She was quite certain no new ones had gone missing, which she wouldn't expect to, but she could sigh with relief at the fact that at least no insiders were still actively sabotaging them.

Maybe.

It was a relief that perhaps things wouldn't get too much worse before they got better, although she didn't want to tempt fate in that way. There were too many loose threads. Stuff was going to get worse, she just hoped they could temper it.

She sighed and grabbed DeKarlyle's Thesis of Spatial Distortion out of its cubby. She hadn't absorbed this book. She wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to, but she did know that she could read it.

Something in the back of her mind told her that she could find answers in this. Maybe even solutions.

Perhaps it wasn't the wisest idea to go through it by herself, but she couldn't rely on everybody else all of the time. She needed to understand what they were up against, and while her mind was clear, while she wasn't being influenced in any way, shape, or form, either deliberately or inadvertently by anybody else's thoughts or wishes, Quinn decided to take control of things herself, especially of her knowledge base.

She settled herself in the corner and pulled the book up, but did not make to absorb it. She wasn't that foolish, letting that sort of information rush into her mind when she wasn't yet prepared for it. No, Quinn was going to read in the old-fashioned way. In a cushy and comfortable place, with a wonderful view, and an interesting book.

Aradie was suddenly there with a bag in which was a flask of something that smelled suspiciously like spiced chai tea. Cook knew her all too well. She poured herself a cup from the thermos and sat it on the table. She glanced out at the starry sky above as she pulled out a meatball sub and took a vicious bite of it.

Contentment swept over her, and she realized that if she had to land anywhere in the universe, being the Librarian of a magical Library, even if it needed a little bit of rebuilding, was probably the greatest thing in the cosmos.

Well, at least it would be once she convinced the Library that it also needed a fiction wing.