"Hmm," Sarah hummed softly, her tail flicking every now and again as her eyes scanned the pages of one of many yellowed books. Each of which contained within them the histories and Stories of the Ageless and those who worship his person. Though, to say they actually "worship" him would be a step too far, as it has been outlawed since the beginning of his rule. Therefore, he only requires a simple acknowledgement.

The reason being? He had long ago found out that a single prayer to himself, and other Gods and Goddesses not only fueled their powers and abilities, but was addicting. Therefore, if one were to have been prayed to for so long, and it suddenly stopped, the withdrawals for such an event would kill the God or Goddess in question. That is, if they had a great following to begin with.

For if one had within their circle, a moderate size of one hundred followers, and then they suddenly vanished, they would still survive. However, those beings would be severely weakened by the lack of prayers. Perhaps even going so far as to crave more by begging those who are mortal whilst promising many wondrous gifts in return. Whereas those with a thousand or great? They had a low chance of survival, as the backlash for such a thing would cause their immortal hearts and minds to cease functioning. More so if such beings had been around for a century or more.

Therefore, the God King chose to forgo such a thing, as he had once obtained more than a thousand followers at one point, before being flung out of his world in the very beginning. Due to him not being in power for over a century, but for a few cycles, was he able to keep his sanity and life. Especially with so few followers as the first of his Undying fueling his body with their wishes and mental prayers.

Though you may be wondering how he became so strong, yes? Well, it is quite simple. He stole it.

"Hmm," once again Sarah hummed to herself, flipping through the pages in her clawed hands. She, herself, was standing in front of a long bookshelf atop the first floor of the Library. Of which comprised of the back section within such a place.

Nearby was a silent Librarian, of which wore a loosely fitted robe the colour of blood with a sash of white draped over its right shoulder, stretched to the left hip. This robe, by the by, had a hood which was drawn forward and gave off an illusion of deep mystery for any and all who dared to peer inward. For within the shadows of the hood was a brief outline of what could have been.

In other words, this creature could have been Human at one point in time. Or perhaps an Elf, Ogre, Orc, Dwarf, and so on and so forth. Such was the illusion of mystery set within its shadows. Even more so were its hands and feet, which were clothed in gloves and slippers. Thus giving off more of a mystery, as they all held the same size and shape as the next one.

As to how to spot the differences? Look for the ones wearing a sash, as they are the ones in charge of running the Library. As well as the ghostly spectres flitting between the shelves. These are specialised cleaners and caretakers, making sure every book is in the same condition it had arrived, and slaying anyone or anything that dared to harm such books.

No. Such a place did not contain the tales and adventures of fanciful or exaggerated beings within the Pantheon, but of Stories. By which it means within the pages gathered here are of those that have lived or are currently living within the Pantheon. However, every world imaginable contains their own Library, each with their residences' thoughts and actions. How they lived, where, when, with whom, and so on and so forth.

This one, on the other hand, contained the inner circle of the God King's. In that the stories within were of himself, his wife's, Nox's, the Undying, the Living Armour, and a few Gods and Goddesses, along with their organisations. Each of which were freely accessible to those of whom had the permissions to do so.

As for Sarah? She still needed permission, but was able to override such things so long as a Librarian accompanied her wherever she went.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

For a third time, the Goddess hummed, "Hmm," as she replaced the book and drew out another as her lips moved softly whilst muttering, "So Brutus killed them because he believed they were attacking, but what if..."

She paused, however, her entire body growing rigid as she noticed something peculiar about the inner spine within the object. Of which appeared to hold the remnants of a page which had gone missing. No. It did not appear to be recent, but nevertheless, she was quite worried.

"Librarian," she called out, closing the book on her clawed forefinger as she turned to face that which was not there. Curious, she peered left, right, up, and down, noting the absence of its presence. Shrugging once, her body spun around, whilst her clawed hand opened the book just as her eyes fell upon the same Librarian who had accompanied her thus far.

"Gah!" Her body stumbled back, whilst her left clawed hand sought to find purchase with the bookshelf nearby. However, she found nothing, and for a brief instance, before she struck the floor with her back, her eyes did spy the shelf shying from her touch, 'What?' her mind wondered slowly, but blanked completely as her body thudded upon the shallow carpeted floor.

"You called for this one, Mistress?" hissed the soft sigh of the Librarian. Of whom did not move the entirety of her fall, nor did it rush to her side. Instead, the only sign of movement from the being was the soft rustle of its hood as it turned softly towards her direction.

"Don't sneak up on me like that," she cried out, preparing to throw the book she held at the other just as she sat up from the ground. Of which called attention to several spectres, each passing through the ceiling, shelves and floor to glare at her. This sobered her mind rather quickly, as she settled down, lightly patting the book as it rested upon her lap.

Yes. The spectres did depart afterwards, but a pair were then set upon her to watch the book in her clawed hands as she stood up. Well, they were, until something far greater than they caused them to flee back to their chores. No. Sarah did not witness this, only the other spectres and Librarians did, but paid the unknown no mind as they continued with whatever it was they had been tasked to do.

"You called for this one, Mistress?" it asked once again, not bothering to reply to her outburst.

"Yes," the Goddess coughed once, her ears twitching as the sound of the entrance to this place opened and shut, but ignored it. For the comings and goings of those within the Ageless's inner circle was well known to be frequent. Therefore, she paid it no mind.

"Yes," she repeated once again, straightening out the dress she wore. One that continued to flick into a wide variety of colours, as did her eyes and fur, "I wanted to know what happened to this book."

"Is something the matter with it?" She noted the neutral voice contained the barest hint of excitement within the tone, but could not tell what kind.

"There seems to be," she opened the book once more, and flipped through the page. For her clawed forefinger had slipped out during her fall. Therefore, she had to re-find the spot with the missing page, which took a few moments. Upon finding it, she pointed at the inner spine whilst pushing the book into the others' awaiting gloved hands.

"There's a page missing, and I wanted to know what happened to it. Not only that, but if it's available or where I might be able to find it."

"Is it of importance?" The other, with the book in hand, closed it shut whist turning its attention towards her person. There, she noted that the being did not inspect the item, nor did it summon the others to perform an investigation, as they had done in the past.

"Why aren't you doing anything about it?" Her facial features were one of perplexed confusion, as she was quite sure that they would have done something about it. That is, of course, if... "You already know what happened to it, don't you?"

There was something akin to a sigh, as the Librarian strode towards the bookshelf where it originated from, replacing it back upon the shelf. "Mistress," its voice whispered once more, "We of the God King's Library do not have control over the other Libraries. Therefore, whatever had occurred within such a place, before the Stories were transferred to here, is none of our concern."

"But it could be important." Unfortunately, the other shook its hidden head slowly, pointing to something behind her, but she would not turn around.

"Regardless, this is a nonnegotiable argument. The book was brought to us as is, and cannot be restored as the damage was wrought upon it elsewhere."

"So if I find the place the destruction took place, it could be restored there?" Her eyes sparkled at this, which then dimmed slightly as she listened to the other's words.

"Perhaps, but we will not allow you to remove the book without explicit permission from the God King. He must also be present during this transfer, else none will move. Besides, you have a visitor."

"What?" she blinked thrice, and upon doing so, found herself somewhat alone.

That is, until she heard a bark from behind, "Mama!" and crashed to the floor once again. However, this time she found her son hugging her face as his lower end wiggled greatly.