Book (2) The Crimson Carnival: Prologue

--- Gregory Fischer ---

Slowly his eyes opened as he dragged his dazed mind from the delightful depth of dreams that he’d been a part of and back into the world he was more familiar with.

With a groan, he made himself sit up as he stretched and popped out the various aches and pains that came from being an ex-soldier with a prosthetic. His body full of energy even as his mind fought off the last of his sleep, impatient to get the day started.

Feeling a mix of the normal morning needs he finally rolled out of bed to take care of them all with a trip to the bathroom and a warm shower to help wake him up.

Stepping out of the shower he pulled on a pair of jeans, slipped on a button up shirt, and grabbed his usual black vest before putting on his glasses and taking a look at his reflection in the mirror.

A thirty-something man with a bit of brown stubble on his face and brown eyes with only the faintest rings around them stared back at him with a tired but determined look as he tied his shoulder length hair into his usual ponytail. Part of him actually wondering whether or not he should get a haircut.

Feeling his stomach rumble he made his way to the kitchen before pulling out some eggs and frying them up alongside some toast in the toaster for breakfast. The pan went in the sink where he washed it clean before tossing his paper plate and plastic silverware in the trash can.

With all of that taken care of he stepped out of his apartment filled with furniture and a couple of overflowing bookshelves, that had him thinking about getting another one to lighten their load as he made his way downstairs to Toni’s shop below.

Said mechanic was drinking a cup of coffee in her chair as she got her tools ready for the day while going over whatever paperwork she had for the day.

“Morning.” He called, leaning against the doorframe.

His best friend blinked in surprise before turning his way with wide eyes. “Greg? You’re up… early?”

“Yeah, it’s… a good day.” He decided with a wry grin as he subconsciously patted the book he was carrying under one arm.

Toni spun around in her chair and gave him a once over with a smile. “Yeah, you’re uh, you’re looking like you’re having a good day.”

“First day of the new job… Honestly, I’m a little excited.” He had to admit.

“Really? So you’re taking up that job offer from that Briar Library thing?” Toni asked him with a bit of cautious skepticism. “And you’re actually excited to work for them?”

“It’s a library job.” He reminded her to distract from all the ways it wasn’t. “I’m mostly going to be collecting and sorting stories out based on what my boss told me the other day.”

“So not like your usual jobs?” His best friend checked once more. “Because the other day you were looking kind of drained when you got back from your interview.”

“Well… They handle a lot of magic books.” He tried to explain without explaining. “It’s just that during the… interview, I realized how… rusty I’d let my other skills get. I mean I can throw a fire punch but… my theory could use a lot more work than I thought.”

Toni looked unconvinced, the mechanic never being overly fond of the ‘magic’ that half their society was built on, much more preferring the mechanical half of it. “So it’s just books and stuff. No actual fighting?”

“Not unless the people we get the stories from put up a fight.” The fact that his own story put him so thoroughly through the ringer was not something he was going to tell her. (I don’t need to make her worry. Especially not with how much worry I’ve given her these last few years…)

She stared at him for a moment before eventually nodding. “Good. After everything you’ve been through, something quiet will be good for you.”

He thought about everything that happened at the library for better and for worse before giving a small nod of his own. “Yeah, I think it will too.”

“Then get going!” Toni smiled at him. “You shouldn’t blow this by being late on your first day.”

“I won’t be!” He called back as he made his way towards the shop’s front door, ready to take on whatever his job would throw at him.

Once on the streets he found himself freezing as he realized just how crowded the main street was, a number of pedestrians already making their ways all over as he stood on the shop’s stoop trying to steady his slowly spiraling nerves. (Shit… forgot how overcrowded the main streets are…)

Not quite able to handle this much hustle and bustle he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, smoking the entire thing as he tried to use the chemicals within to steady his nerves.

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He couldn’t help but grimace as the door opened behind him. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just… overestimated how good of a day it was.” He admitted as he pulled out a second cigarette.

He didn’t turn around, not wanting to see what expression Toni was making, instead using the idea of what that might be to steele himself before stepping onto the main street. And ducking into the first alley that would take him to the off street route he usually took everywhere.

(I really need to ask how to work that summoning trick with my regular smokes.) He sighed as he pulled out a third cigarette, leaving him with maybe half of a pack of the skull marked carton of white sticks.

The back alleys were filled with their usual amount of filth swept out of sight of the various store and business fronts of the tall cramped city streets. A sight that he could usually ignore, but stood out to him today after having actually seen how clean and proper the main street was. Even the few other people on this route stood out as a stark reminder of how few people were confident walking them when compared to the numerous people who felt safe on the main street.

Even with his good mood he wasn’t willing to take the city bus, but even with these recent reminders, the small bit of pep that remained in his step was enough to shave a decent amount off of his usual route. Enough so that he actually made the trip in just under an hour for once, his confidence just high enough to risk a few public shortcuts on his way to the library.

Looking up the steps to the library he couldn’t help himself as the bit of giddiness he’d woken up with once more made itself known as he slowly made his way to what he was hoping would become another sanctuary from the world outside of Toni’s shop.

The fact that he was the only one going up the steps just made that feel all the more possible, even if he wasn’t making his way up the steps to this library.

He paused with his hand on the door, closing his eyes as he remembered Briar’s previous instructions on how to return to the library. His mind focused on the image of the black rose and thorns that made up the emblem of the Black Briar Library before pushing the door open.

Opening his eyes as he was enraptured by silence, he found himself in a massive atrium far bigger than the building he’d previously entered. The room filled with cool grays and dark blacks that did little to distract from a number of books that would’ve been obscene in any setting other than a library.

As the door clicked shut behind him he carelessly ventured forward into the building, doing his utmost best to ignore the things moving in the shadows. A mystery he was sure to figure out if he spent enough time in what he knew to be no ordinary library. (I hope…)

Regardless, while this was one of the weirdest and magically potent places he’d ever seen, he was fully aware that this place meant no harm (even if it could do a fair amount…)

“Gregory Fischer!” A voice called from behind him.

Spinning on his heels he found a young woman with pitch black hair smiling up at him through her own glasses. One that most certainly hadn’t been there five seconds ago when he’d passed through that very spot.

“Briar Black.” He nodded back since they were apparently using their full names.

“Oh! You can just call me Briar!” The head of this eldritch library told him.

“Then call me Gregory… or Fischer, don’t really care either way.” He shrugged, not really used to doing this whole small talk thing with his employers. (Usually they just tell me what they want done and where to pick up the second half of my money.)

“Wonderful!” Briar laughed practically bouncing in place.

“Excited?” He asked, raising a half amused brow.

“So excited!” The librarian nodded. “With you here now I’ve increased my number of librarians by one hundred percent! My brother is going to be so jealous with his one partner at a time.”

“Okay… When you say that do you mean you’ve got someone other than me working here?” He checked to make sure he was understanding.

“Yes, I’ve made sure that Mr. Peabody was present to meet you. He’s over this way.” Briar explained as she led him towards a set of doors that he was sure hadn’t been there just a moment before.

“Right, I’m sure it’ll be good to meet this… Mr. Peabody.” He smiled tersely as he followed after. (Maybe he can tell me why Briar has no understanding of money.)

“And here is our other librarian, Mr. Peabody!” Briar introduced as she pushed the doors open to reveal a- (Hold up.)

“This is Mr. Peabody?” He couldn’t help but frown as his boss started petting a white and gray dog wearing what looked like a saddle bag on its back and a set of glasses on its face.

“Yep. I knew that I needed the best person I could find for my first librarian and then I found out that Mr. Peabody here is the goodest boi!” Briar explained, clearly not seeing the issue that he was.

He took a deep breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose before letting it out. “Okay… and tell me is Mr. Peabody good at his job?”

“Oh, he’s the best scout I could’ve ever asked for.” Briar happily nodded. “Any time I need to find a new story Mr. Peabody here will wander off and find me a place with a bunch of new stories to collect when I follow him!”

He took another deep breath before letting it out. “Right, so… you explained the other day that the whole point of the Black Briar Library is to collect stories, and Mr. Peabody here somehow finds you them?”

“Uh-huh, though he insists on finding them because while he’s not good at collecting them he can track down the most interesting stories out there!” His new (and mildly insane) boss assured him. “In fact that’s part of why I brought him here to meet you today!”

“Really?” He asked in a tone dry as the dessert.

“Yeah, since he refuses to collect stories he can take you somewhere he’s scouted and you can collect the story instead!” Briar told him, before glancing at the dog. “In fact Mr. Peabody here even went out of his way to find a special place for your first day!”

Despite his skepticism the dog pulled out a book from within the saddle bag and walked over before offering it to him.