The town hall Haritan mentioned was the largest vine woven tent in the semi-clearing. As she stepped through the opening, she realized the inside was, just like Narilin's home, much bigger on the inside.

Vines thrashed ever so slightly as they entered. It was as if these living, moving plants could sense the tension in the air. Quinn got a good look around the interior as they walked through the overhanging door. It was more like an open-aired town hall, almost like an amphitheater, although the chairs and tables that littered the interior were set up in more of a tavern-style way. There also appeared to be a serving bar at the other end of it, which gave it a large restaurant meeting room vibe. Two other people stood in the center of the room.

Quinn turned her gaze back to Haritan, who stood with a very slight smirk on his face, like he had gotten the upper hand somehow. Quinn thought to Nishpa and the others, Have I missed something? She made sure she directed the thought precisely; it wouldn't do for their unwelcoming hosts to catch wind of their inner conversation.

Somehow even the mahogany tinge that Haritan's body held seemed resentful in some way. It was tempting to try and get a reaction out of him, even if it might not be advisable in a strictly intergalactic political landscape type of way.

If he seemed surprised by the fact that they'd had no problem keeping up with him while he moved rapidly through the forest, Haritan did not let on. He gestured to the other two people. Quinn took in the other two. The first was very slight, and almost as short as Quinn. She was an extremely pale wood, with red hints scattered throughout her pale bark and wood skin. But her hair reminded Quinn of the first part of autumn when the leaves were turning that beautiful deep or orangey red. She didn't have the same vibe to her that Haritan did, and indeed not the same as the woman who stood next to her. In fact, the smaller one seemed hesitant at best, terrified at worst.

Haritan didn't appear to notice Quinn's scrutiny, and cleared his throat. "This is my wife, Karella, and my daughter, Irias. We are the head family of the Balisor Salosier clan."

Quinn nodded and inclined her head ever so slightly, while taking in Karella. Karella seemed put out, as if she didn't want to be there, as if she was better than all of them. And she wasn't shy about showing her disdain for being forced into their presence. Not just Quinn's, not just Narilin's, but even her own family's. There was so much to unpack there. Her bark was a mix between the dark red that Haritan displayed, and the pale of Irias in a strikingly surreal way. Her hair was short, just like Haritan's, went down to maybe mid-shoulder, the leaves a deeper green, not resembling Irias's at all.

"I'm the Librarian," Quinn said, introducing herself since nobody else spoke up. Nishpa inclined her head, too, and Narilin barely moved.

"We know who you are," Karella said, disdainfully, looking Narilin up and down, in a way that could have stripped Narilin's bark if given a chance. Aradie gripped onto Quinn's shoulder, and she intoned several words in Quinn's mind. They are family, but they are very uneven. There's something off about this. I do not trust these adults' words.

Quinn smiled in greeting to Karella, while shooting back to Aradie. Did you classify Irias as not an adult?

Yes, Aradie responded quickly and definitively.

Quinn couldn't see any books anywhere in the vicinity of where they all stood, which made her frown more. But she did know that everybody seemed to have dimensional storage of some sort, so it was probably in one of those.

"I believe it is best for us to take a seat," Karella said, gesturing to the large table at the front. In hindsight, it looked to Quinn like it had been placed there haphazardly, like perhaps this specific spot was used for something else normally.

Nishpa alighted on the top of one of the chairs, shooting a glance at Quinn. There's something, can you sense that? she asked.

Quinn could. Something wasn't right, either in this room, or in this space. Frankly, since she'd walked through the aperture to get here, something had been bugging her. Quinn believed it was some portion of maybe motion sickness, or travel sickness, because she hadn't actually been pulled through an aperture before in her life. Just doors, which were portals, but that was beside the point. There was obviously something slightly different about it, but now she realized it wasn't emanating from herself and her discomfort from the travel, but instead from something underlying everything in this area. She filed that away, keeping it in a section of her mind to be analyzed as they worked through this hopeful book retrieval.

"Anyway," Quinn said, "can we get started? I'd like to hear what your concerns are, and how you might be willing to give me my book back."

Haritan scowled. Quinn had become deft at reading the Salosier expressions, considering her interactions with Narilin hadn't always been favorable. It was a skill she'd had to acquire. In this case, Haritan was pissed. He seemed extremely disgruntled, angry, things that Quinn didn't understand, or perhaps more accurately, didn't understand why they were directed at her when she'd obviously done nothing at all.

"That's all very convenient, isn't it," Haritan said.

"How is that convenient?" Quinn asked, genuinely curious.

"That the Library has reopened and that we have been excluded yet again." His tone was heated, and his eyes practically flashed with malice.

Quinn glanced as surreptitiously as she could at both Nishpa and Narilin, their voices spoke into her mind.

I have no idea what he's talking about, Nishpa said. There's always been some rivalry. I don't understand why they feel left out.

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Quinn cleared her throat. "I'm quite certain Lynx sent out the invites, including this region of Feshpa Alin."

Aradie hooted an affirmative, and Quinn waited to see what their response would be.

Karella sneered, unimpressed. While she blustered ever so slightly as if choosing the right words, Quinn decided to inspect at least Irias. She hadn't used that ability for a while because there was a time when the Library hadn't been able to reach her when she went out. However, now with the power boost in place, most things were available to her.

Pulling up Irias' information she realized the Balisor was not what she'd expected. Not her demeanor nor the way she carried herself. There was none of the confidence that Narilin had, none of the arrogance or disdain that her parents had. Something was definitely wrong and making her fearful.

Irial Balisor-Salosier

Age: 198

Ability - Dormant: Current Parameters have not been met.

Quinn inspected her. It came up as Irias Balisor Salosier as expected, but there was something odd apart from the fact that she was almost 100 years younger than Narilin and not even yet 200. She had an ability indication that Quinn had never seen before. What the hell did dormant, current parameters have not been met mean? Quinn frowned, making a note of it and saving that information to go over a little later because that was entirely bizarre. Did she have to meet certain conditions before she could unlock her abilities? Although, didn't affinities technically do that?

"What are you talking about? Lynx invited us all." Narilin spoke calmly.

"He did not." Karella practically spat the words out.

"Yes, he did," Quinn said as Aradie nudged her head with her wing, which sent a message flashing across Quinn's screen, confirming the thought she'd had and lending her confidence in her next statement. "This is one of the regions the initial wave of applications were announced to."

"I refuse to believe that," Karella said. "We received no personal invitations whatsoever."

Narilin actually laughed, and Quinn looked over at her, trying to suppress a groan. That laugh was not going to get them anywhere in this conversation.

"I did not receive a personal invitation either," Narilin said. "I listened to the system alert informing us all that the Library was reopening, required new assistants with at least three of the sixteen very specific affinities they were searching for. I jumped at the chance to move to the Library because it is what I have always dreamed of and I never thought I would get a chance because it was gone. There was nothing personal about my invitation!"

Karella paled ever so slightly which, to be fair, was very difficult to tell considering the different barks that went in to make up her skin. Quinn absolutely loved the way the wood grains met with each other in the Salosier clan. It was absolutely mesmerizing to behold but it didn't help her to judge their moods. And it was highly distracting right now when she should have been paying more attention.

Haritan cleared his throat. "That isn't possible."

"No, really, it is," Narilin said. "Look, I did not get a hand delivered personalized application delivered to my domicile. I worked in the central Salosien Library. That's when I got the notification. I am fully aware that my mother got one in her house and every other assistant I know of from the library did not receive a personalized one. It was a generic send out by Lynx. Why would you think you deserved a personal invitation?" Narilin said.

Quinn grimaced ever so slightly because now they were getting into dangerous territory. Haritan and Karella did not look like the sort of people that you'd want to corner. She couldn't imagine how disagreeable they'd be then, if this is how they'd been so far. She glanced at the information Aradie had so generously shared. "We sent it out to, I think it was, 12 regions to start with. People who had worked for the Library as assistants before to try and find some applicants. We got several dozen, I think. I didn't really do that part, I just did interviews."

Karella turned a disdainful gaze on Quinn. "You just did the interviews. Isn't it your job to understand who's coming to be your assistant?"

"That's why we had the application forms," Quinn said unsure what was so hard to grasp about a bloody job application form, "so people could give us their information and enter it in the system so we would know who was applying."

Karella actually looked slightly flustered, yet she still scowled and that ominous feeling, that was the right word.

Ominous.

That sensation still felt like it was leaking ever so subtly from the ground up. Quinn was grateful to continue hovering. She shuddered to imagine the feeling that might give if she was stuck tethered to the ground as a Salosier. It would be seeping into her roots as a part of herself spreading whatever that uncomfortable sensation was everywhere. She glanced down but nothing was visible. There was no miasma, no fog, nothing. Yet another thing for her to observe and replay as soon as she had time to analyze it.

Haritan was already glaring at Nishpa. "And just how did you get back to the Library?"

"Through a door? You know... the way everyone gets to the Library..." Nishpa actually appeared to be bewildered by the questions. "What has gotten into you? I have known you for millennia, Haritan - this is stubborn even for you! Even with your stupid feud that you won't let go off, you've always been a more reasonable man."

Haritan took a step back and shook his head like he was trying to clear some fog or something out of it but a darkness stole over his eyes again and he looked up at her, his face twisted in anger. "You know nothing. You don't know me well. I haven't seen you for 30 years."

"30 years is nothing in our lifespans," Nishpa snapped at him. But Quinn could tell she was reaching out now, subtly, like a soft breeze, as if she was using her sound waves to try and figure out just what was wrong with the people in front of them.

Nishpa spoke in Quinn's mind. They've been infected by something.

How can they be infected by something here? Narilin said. We're connected through the aperture. If it's here, it should be in my home.

No, no, I think your wards are more intact than they are here. Nishpa sounded slightly worried. Make sure you hover, both of you.

Wasn't planning on touching the ground here anyway, Narilin said. It's, it's wrong.

In the meantime, Irias was getting even paler by the second. Quinn tried to clear the air. "If Irias would like to be a Library assistant, we would love to have her. She'd be a fantastic asset I'm sure. If you want me to personally invite her, I gladly will."

It was the first expression she'd seen from Irias. Her eyes lit up ever so slightly, like she was eager, like she finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

But that was the only expression she got from the girl before Haritan moved his fist so fast, Quinn couldn't follow and slammed Irias back into the wall and she crumpled to the ground.