Emily spent a long time after that wondering what they should do. In the meantime, they worked on themselves. They discovered after a long period of experimentation that they preferred the female form that they had built for themselves, although they found a male form that could be used if there was ever any advantage to donning such an appearance. At nights they would leave their home within The God’s Mangrove and begin to explore their capabilities in the town square, now confident in their ability to stand up to any questioning they might receive from the inhabitants of Richardsville.
The results were very pleasing. Emily could run circles around the mangrove without ever tiring. After all, this astral projection that was her body did not need to consume anything to move. They were capable of picking up objects, but still felt the weight of what they picked up, which implied a kind of natural limit on their strength. Having picked up on a strange kind of logic to this body, this fact puzzled them. Was it a mental barrier, their belief that a being of a certain size could only pick up things up to a certain size, or was this some kind of magical limiter, like a rule that Emily was bound to follow without fully understanding what it was or why it existed? Either way, it frustrated Emily. Their agility was respectable, and when they spoke, they found that it was easy to recreate the speech that they heard from humans in a voice that was soft and pleasant.
At times Emily had overheard discussions of a Library, and she had taken away from her eavesdropping that a Library was a place where you Learned, and you Learned when you needed Knowledge. Knowledge seemed like a generally good thing to have, especially if one intended to kill a God. And so, as the sun peaked out over the distant hills, bathing Richardsville in the dim warm glow, Emily set out to properly interact with Humanity for the first time. She arrived at the Library, which she could see was named The Fremont Library - Charles University Associate.
Stepping inside, Emily was almost immediately overwhelmed by how different this space was. The building was small, essentially consisting of one large room split up by counters and desks and shelves, with a few alcoves lining the northern wall, and if she had looked a bit further in the back she would have seen that a hallway led to a staff area and a couple of bathrooms. At the front she was greeted by a young man with sharp brown hair and a radiant smile.
“A new face!” he exclaimed as he rounded the counter and approached Emily. “Say no more, it is the registration season at all, you must be a University student! Pray tell, what is the subject of your studies?”
“Trees,” Emily effortlessly lied. “And the Gods. Adonai specifically.”
“Fascinating, you must seek work with one of the Temples upon graduation,” the man concluded before extending his hand for a handshake. “My name is David! David Hitt. I am the Librarian of this fine institution, as well as the Professor of Archival Studies at the University. Please, allow me to assist you as much as I can. Take a seat and allow me to prepare some materials for you.”
Emily sat at one of the tables in the center of the library, which were arranged into rows that could seat dozens of people in the middle of the mess of shelves. It was a bit overwhelming to think of everything that these books represented. They had been under the impression that the world was actually rather small, and it was a bit embarrassing to realize that their task, and this learning endeavor, would take a lot longer than expected.
Eventually David returned with a large stack of books, and Emily began to read. The vast majority of the first one was useless, being a simple encyclopedia of trees. It included a lot of words that Emily didn’t understand, which forced her to ask David for what turned out to be a dictionary; something she could cross-reference with the encyclopedia to learn new words. The next book was an encyclopedia of the Gods, and Emily only took the time to read the section on Adonai.
Adonai is generally recognized as the deity that governs Family, Fatherhood, Motherhood, Love, Sex, and Death. It could be said that Adonai, despite its status as one of the more ‘common’ Gods, is truly the God of Man, as the feelings and facets of life that Adonai governs are among the most important to us. A prayer to Adonai is a prayer to find love, a prayer for one's enemies to perish, for the love of children and the love of parents, and for the health of the family. Offerings to Adonai usually involve some element of ritual scarification, meaning that only highly qualified Priests who recognize the distinction between an Adonai Ritual and something which may summon a Demon are qualified to engage in offerings to Adonai.
This sent Emily on another frantic search, this time assisted with the labeling system that the Library used. First, she looked into what a Family was, just to make sure she knew that she was right. Then she looked up Love, realized that it was much too complex, and walked away with the understanding that Love was a powerful and altogether pleasant emotion. Then she studied up on the Priest system and the Temples. Lastly, she researched Ritual Scarification. This last detail only filled her with more disgust towards Adonai. It was the ruler of Family, for the love of the Gods that made sense, and yet it commanded Priests to cut themselves in order to do anything? What a selfish, unpleasant being. How much better would life be if Adonai were to never exist, and for a much more empathetic, kind being to take its place? Her resolve was only hardened as the sun began to set, and she began to put her books away.
“What deep reading,” David couldn’t help but comment as he assisted her. “You didn’t leave for so much as a supper break.”
“Indeed,” Emily replied flatly. “I got busy.”
“I appreciate that. Ever since they allowed money to pay for access to the University, there’s been a drought of literate, intelligent students for my Library to service. You see, all of the students that would get there by merit lose out on precious class slots to these wealthy brats, and the University reports that it’s made a lot of money, so the Baron lets them do it. The joke is on them, I say. In twenty years, when people realize that nobody who graduates from Charles University can read or write or think worth a damn, its stock will collapse so severely that they’ll regret ever putting this moronic program into place.”
“I see,” Emily replied just as flatly. Admittedly, University politics were a form of human suffering that she didn’t particularly care for. She recalled students praying at her tree for success, but those were never quite dripping with need or tragedy in the same way that other prayers were.
“Will you be here tomorrow?”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Yes, and tomorrow, I would like to do some more research into Adonai if I could.”
“Ah yes, the Fickle God. Quite a fascinating character, and one of the few Gods who is said to never have appeared before a human. I disagree.”
Emily found herself intrigued. “Is that so?”
“Indeed. You see, Gods appear before people in times of great strife. Seir rides the lightning of the storms, appearing to sailors and victims of natural disasters as a reminder of the power that the Gods hold over us mortals. Hara is said to walk among the bodies after a battle, tallying men and their deeds so that the Afterlife knows where to sort them. You get the idea, but I could list further claims if you require the evidence. But Adonai never appears. What, then, would be the most ideal time for a being like Adonai, who governs family and love and death, to appear before a person? I believe that you may know, as your gender would have a particular interest in this.”
“I can’t say that I have an idea.”
David snapped his fingers. “Childbirth. Adonai, the great midwife, is present alongside women in childbirth. That is my theory.”
“Would women not see him?”
“Well, childbirth is quite painful, and a great many women undergo it with their eyes either closed or fixed on a particular point in the horizon. Additionally, if you were an upper-class woman, you would have a wide cast of people, among them doctors, priests, and family, assisting with the process; whereas a lower class woman could rely on neighbors and family in the same way. Perhaps Adonai is out of reach, say, above the women; watching over them and measuring how well they take the pain of creating life as an attempt to anticipate how well they’ll treat the child. Or perhaps it appears among the throng of people, masking itself with chaos, appearing as a familiar face just to vanish and reinforce the unfamiliarity of the features. You see my vision, of course.”
“I would suppose that I do. Would it actually help?”
“Oh no no, of course not. Adonai is a distant God, thoroughly disinterested in conducting tasks personally or on a level that we can understand. It’s too great for that, I suppose.”
“Indeed,” Emily couldn’t help but sneer. “Well, I must be departing, but I will be back tomorrow. I hope that we meet again.”
“I’m here every day,” David replied with a bow before standing up straight again. “Except for holidays, civic events, and weekends.”
By the time he finished speaking, Emily had already left, and he realized that he hadn’t gotten her name.
That night, as Emily rested inside of the tree, she began to construct a library for herself. It was easy enough to turn nothingness into something when you existed as nothing more than a soul, and Emily began to recreate, as best as she could, David’s library. However, the key exception is that she left the shelves empty. The first book she put up was ‘The Tree Encyclopedia,’ followed by ‘The Encyclopedia of the Gods.’ Satisfied with her efforts, she opened them up and found them empty. Her ability to place books here must have been limited by her memory. That was inconvenient.
How were books made, exactly? The question jumped out at her like an animal emerging from the brush of a thick forest. If she knew that, she could make her own book, consisting of the sum total of her knowledge. And she’d be able to consult that during nights like these, reviewing her knowledge and becoming an expert in these matters! They were black letters on a page, so how did the pages get made, how did the letters get put on them, and then how were they bound into such pleasing rectangles? She spent the whole night agonizing over the question.
Far on the other side of Richardsville, David managed to get himself through the door of Mary’s Place just before closing time. Mary, an older woman with graying brunette hair and a gentle smile that fit her rounded face so perfectly that to think of that smile leaving her face was a bit like trying to invent a new color, gave him a wave.
“David! I was wondering when I’d see my favorite librarian again.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, I couldn’t be. Jabir must hold that title.”
The smile never left Mary’s face, but she did scoff. “Jabir is a nice young man as well, but he’s only a student. Women like me should be careful to not take such an interest in men that young.”
“I appreciate the ethics. Now, I’m here today because I need rhodochrosite. Preferably a large amount.”
“Now that’s puzzling,” Mary replied. “Such a rare ingredient, and you’re normally such an everyman alchemist. What could possibly interest you about a rock like that?”
“It’s not alchemy, I must admit,” David lied with a chuckle. “There’s a girl, you see. She came into the Library today. A beautiful young lady, you see. If you didn’t know, my father was a jeweler, and I picked up some of his lessons when I was too young to do anything but watch. As a token of my esteem, and I must admit, as an attempt to win her heart, I intend to make her a necklace. Preferably one so gorgeous that it will reflect the depths of my feelings for her even after just one meeting, and I will win her heart in one fell swoop.”
“Ah, romance!” Mary sang. “How wonderful! For a deed that noble, you get a discount. Three ounces of silver for a pound of rhodochrosite. I’ll surely take a loss on this order, but to empty your pockets in pursuit of love is one of the most noble ways of conducting oneself.”
“No, Mary, I can’t,” David replied as he pulled his coin purse off of his belt loop. “Charge the full price. I can easily afford it, and you don’t need to take any losses on my part. It’s not gentlemanly of me.”
“Okay,” Mary grimaced, clearly unhappy with his response. “I suppose I’ll take the full price, but only because you insist. Word for the wise, however. Typically when people offer favors, you should take them.”
David deposited five coins onto the tabletop. “If you really wanted to offer me a favor, you’d order some basil. A lot of it.”
“Oh? And if I may, for what purpose?”
“Another visitor to the library gave me a proper process for drying herbs, that he claims will preserve the full effect of their fresh condition while ensuring they do not go bad. It was a rather compelling case, and as such, I wish to test it on some fresh basil,” David lied once more.
“Oh, you simply must share this with me should it work!” Mary exclaimed as she picked up her notepad and scribbled down the instructions to order a large amount of the herb. “Will you need anything else, David?”
“I’ll have a few more requests over the next few weeks. Thank you for your time, Mary. You’re more of a Saint than anyone interred in the Temple.”
“Oh please,” Mary chuckled, waving to the young man as he stepped outside.
As he stepped outside, he took a moment to stare at the minerals in his bag. Vibrant red, yet buried inside of another rock. It would be a royal pain to separate the minerals from the rock for his purposes, but considering what he was undertaking, he was thankful that it was only as difficult as using a hammer and chisel and all of the caution and delicacy he could muster with such tools. After all, if bringing someone back to life was a simple process, everyone would be doing it.