He walked uncertainly as unpleasant thoughts flooded his mind. He couldn't shake off the nightmare he had dreamed. He wasn't sure what it was; maybe it wasn't even a nightmare. Everything seemed so real. One thing he was absolutely certain of was that he had lost his job. But life goes on. Always. It doesn't wait for anyone, not even a lonely former Walmart employee. There were the doors on the right side of the hallway, just as the guard had told him at the entrance of the building. And it said clearly, "Public Library of Greatorror Villa."
He tightened his tie and decisively reached for the door handle. The door clicked. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach, and in that moment, he forgot what he had planned to say, how to introduce himself. But he didn't have a chance to fully open the door because he felt a strong force behind him, pushing him inside. He hit the door, heard a thud from the other side, and clumsily fell next to it. He grabbed his throbbing head and looked towards the exit. But there was no one there.
"Oh!" a voice came from the other side.
He saw a girl on the floor, and next to her, two spilled coffees.
"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, I don't know how this happened... I'm really sorry for hitting you with the door!" he stood up and reached out his hand to help her. He collected the cardboard cups and looked at their emptiness.
"I feel terrible... Let me make it up to you with this coffee. This should never have happened..." Then he had a flashback – as if this had already happened before. And then he remembered that he "dreamed" this back at work. At his now former job. Although he wasn't sure how to describe that experience, his eyes were wide open, and now he saw this scene, from the future, he now realized...
"It's alright... It could happen to anyone," she said with a smile, lightening the situation and lessening his internal guilt.
"Thank you for understanding, thank you so much! By the way, I'm Max," he said, extending his hand with a sense of relief that he hadn't embarrassed himself further and worsened the situation.
"I'm Konny, nice to meet you."
"Well, Konny, let's go get some coffee then, before I mess something else up," he said shyly but determinedly, smiling as they approached the coffee machine.
"Are you always this clumsy, or just on Mondays?" she asked cheerfully.
"Well... I don't know... usually only before meeting a beautiful girl," he replied, scratching his head. They both blushed.
"Ah, I see. Is that so? Haha."
He took three coffees and unconsciously followed her. He didn’t question the third coffee. They started talking about the new taste of coffee with lemon and mint as they reached a table. There was nobody at the table.
"Hmm... That's strange. My friend Veronica was here. We were looking for a certain book, you know... Where did she go..."
"Maybe she went to the restroom?"
"Well I would have definitely seen her if that was the case. The restroom is right by the coffee machine. I couldn't have missed her... Oh, look at the book on the floor, man! V surely wouldn't leave it like this. Something must have happened..."
"But what could have happened? I mean, we're in the middle of a library. It's not like someone kidnapped her or something? Hahaha”
As he said this, an image appeared before his eyes. He saw a crimson vortex and a girl with purple glasses being sucked into it. He noticed it was right next to the book they had found earlier. The vision abruptly ended, and in the background, he saw Konny frozen. Everyone in the library was frozen. He felt like he couldn't escape from this strange moment; he felt trapped - alone, in blurry nothingness, just now, when he had met such a charming girl. Was it possible that all of this was happening to him of all people?
He placed his hands on his face and released his accumulated frustration into them, screaming at the top of his lungs. After he finished venting his anger, he felt that he was no longer alone. He moved his hands and saw a yellowish brightness approaching him from a distance. It seemed... like some kind of angel. He saw large white wings and... something resembling a kimono... with a golden trim?
“Who are you? And why are you wearing a kimono?” he said, while the dazzling end of the kimono blinded him. "You see me for the first time, and you immediately criticize my clothes... Ah... humans. A strange species. It doesn't matter who I am; I've come to help you. You see for yourself that you're stuck in an interdimensional space," the angel said as he tried to scratch near his spine on the wing.
"So, that is what this blurry wasteland is. What's going on with me now? This has happened before at my former job. I saw some doors then... Never mind. Tell me, are you my guardian angel, as you came to help me?"
"Something like that. It's too complicated to explain the hierarchy and relationships among us and between us and you humans right now. But listen to me carefully—"
"Oh, why is everything so complicated? It’s always the easiest way to get away by saying it's complicated. 'It’s complicated.’ And that’s it. It’s always that easy. How do I know who you are and if you really want to help me or do something bad? You may well enough want to hurt me, how would I know? Would you believe a stranger who doesn't introduce themselves and then expects you to listen to them and probably do something else?"
"Okay, man, humans can really be annoying, uuh. A thorn in the wing, for God’s sake. My race is called horosh. Think of us as angels. I have nothing else to compare us to. I want to help you get out of this dead-end you're currently in. If you're okay with that, of course. If not, I can leave," he started to walk away.
"Okay, okay. Wait. Go ahead and get me out of here. I don't want to linger here any longer."
"First, listen to me, and then we'll go. Deal?" Max nodded his head. "Here's how it is. In that little book," he pointed to the book lying on the floor, "there's a nicely written recipe for a little potion. You'll get the ingredients, mix it up, and then give it to that frozen girl over there to drink it all at once. Okay?"
"What kind of potion is that? What is it?"
"I don't have time to explain what it is and where it comes from. The important thing is that the ingredients are simple, but you have to be careful with the preparation. Follow the recipe on page 87 carefully."
"Alright... I don't know what's going on in that book, and I don't understand why it's so important, but fine. I'll do as you say... By the way, do you know anything about a girl with purple glasses? I saw her in a vision before you appeared. She seems to be a friend that te frozen girl mentioned, and she's really worried about her."
"Oh, yeah. She'll come back when Konny drinks the elixir. One more thing. My colleague told me you messed up his fur when you tried to reach for him... Not nice of you. You don't mess with horosh’s fur, it's playing with your life. Alright then, that's done. Now, I'm off," he said and began to slowly disappear.
Max paused, bewildered, thinking about what this being had said.
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"What fur... How do you even know that her name is Konny?"
Then he realized what fur it was, remembering the crib and the giant sequoia roots.
"Who are you?" he shouted as he watched the ominous smirk on the wondrous horosh's face slowly fade from view.
Then things returned to their normal course. This doesn't bode well. Not at all.
"I don't believe someone kidnapped her, hahah, but then again, who knows..." Konny said casually. Then she noticed that Max was standing in a slightly different place than a few seconds ago. He was now two, three steps further away.
"Wait, how did you get there? No, I'm telling you, I must have gone crazy. Nothing else can be happening. First, that angel, and now you're teleporting in front of my eyes... You were just standing here a moment ago, man," she said, astonished and with a hint of disbelief, putting her right hand to her forehead.
"Well, you're not far from the truth, actually. But wait. Did you say an angel? What angel are you talking about? Did you see him too?" Max asked excitedly.
"What do you mean? You’ve seen one too?"
"Yes, large white wings, a white kimono with a golden trim. A strong flash. Does it ring a bell?"
"That's it. Except mine didn't have a kimono, more like a long white dress. And the trim was silver, not golden. But the flash nearly blinded me. It looks like they both have that in common. They don't know how to use low beams; they just go for high beams and blind everyone, hahaha."
She is good at cars. Very nice; with a smile, he contemplated.
"Hahahaha, who gave them a driver's license, am I right? Hahaha."
"Exactly. Anyway, let me find that damn page already," said Konny as she bent down to pick up the book from the floor.
"Go ahead, let's see what it's all about," Max replied, and they both sat down at the reading table.
She began flipping through the book, searching for that specific page.
"Do you know what it's about? My 'angel,' or whatever you want to call it, mentioned the book and some kind of potion that I have to drink."
"Potion? So, it's a recipe for that..." Konny said when she finally found the page. "It's hard to believe I'll drink anything concocted by an old book like this... But let's see what's written here..."
Page 87
You must prevent the impending disaster. It's coming, and no one else but you can stop it.
"Yeah, for sure," Konny said.
Save the person who was taken as a pledge for you to fulfill the given instructions. Drink the Elixir of Salvation. Only you can free humanity from the upcoming calamities.
"Sure," Konny said.
"I guess Victoria was really kidnapped," Max said seriously. "I never thought someone could be kidnapped in a library. It seems my tasteless joke was more tasteless than I thought. I had no idea something like this could happen. I'm sorry this happened to your friend."
"Ah, me too. It seems I'll have to drink this concoction after all."
Ingredients:
* 2 teaspoons of powdered white willow bark (Salix alba)
* 1 teaspoon of dried nettle (Urtica dioica)
* 1 teaspoon of lady's mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris)
* 1 clove (Sizigium aromaticum)
* 100 ml (6.76 oz) of lukewarm water
* 30 ml (1 oz) of fruit brandy
* a pinch of cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum)
Combine and mix the ingredients with a dry radius bone of a bat for 3 minutes.
"Where am I going to find a bat in Prettistown, seriously?" Konny exclaimed.
(For the bone, see the last page of the book)
Then boil for 5 minutes, let it cool, and drink it all at once.
"Dear goodness, what am I going to find now?" Konny said as she flipped through the book to the last page.
"Look, look, they've thought of everything..." Max said as he saw the bat bone glued with resin on the leather cover of the last page.
"You can say that again... Someone really went to great lengths so that I correctly concoct and drink this murky potion... It surely doesn't bode well," added Konny.
"It says that you have to use it to save people from the apocalypse. But I don't know..." Max replied.
"I... I save myself every morning when I manage to get up when the alarm rings. I mentally fight with that, and now they expect me to do some physical saving of the world, too? The world has gone crazy, and now I'm suddenly expected to save it. Who am I for such a job? Someone miscalculated here, and pretty badly, hahaha."
They both laughed, their outward expressions radiating amusement while inside, seriousness and fear battled.
"I know we just met, and I don't know much about you, but you shouldn't put yourself down and underestimate your abilities. I believe you're capable of handling this rescue task, hahaha," Max said with a confident grin, causing a slight smile to appear on her face.
"But, yeah, believe in yourself. I believe in you!" he boldly proclaimed, and his cheeks blushed a cherry-red hue.
"Thank you," she replied, with a touch of shy satisfaction.
"No problem at all," Max proudly added, grateful that his encouragement had a positive effect.
"All right then. There's a health food store next to the library. We'll find everything we need there."
"You ask them about the bat wing; maybe they even have that one, too, hahaha."
"With the experiences I've had so far, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't, hahaha."
And so it was. They bought the necessary ingredients, borrowed a stove and a pot from the librarian on duty, and set to work making the much-needed elixir.
"If only she knew what we're putting in this pot; I'm not sure she'd lend it to us so easily, hahaha."
"You're not wrong, hahaha. Better keep that to ourselves and clean it thoroughly with a sponge afterward."
"Definitely. I hope the bat wing wasn't contagious. That our little bat friend wasn't a bloodsucker. We don't need any vampires or infections right now," Max said.
"That's true, we don't need another calamity on top of the ones we already have in order. We'll fill the apocalypse schedule too quickly, and nothing will be left for the next month, hahaha."
"Hahaha, good one, good one," Max replied with a slightly shy grin.
"Thanks, thanks," Konny said, confidently encouraged.
"Thank you, thank you," she said proudly encouraged, continuing to stir the elixir soup with the bone.
"How long does it say to stir, 2 minutes?" asked Konny, the head chef of the Magical Department of the Rescue Unit Responsible for Defending Against Incoming Apocalypses.
"Three, three," Max replied. "I don't know why the temporal accuracy, but okay."
"I have no idea. Although, the kitchen and its wonders are essentially chemistry."
"You're right, it's possible."
After 2 minutes.
"That's it, now let it boil for a bit," Max said in a managerial tone.
"Yes, yes. Let's do that," Konny responded. "If someone had told me that I would be cooking an apocalypse elixir with a guy I just met after just a few minutes of stumbling upon him, I wouldn't believe them, no way, hahaha."
"Hahaha, you know, I wouldn't believe it either if I had received a similar tip," he blushed a bit as he replied, recalling the vision he had had in Walmart.
They finished cooking. It cooled down.
"Should I drink it, what do you think?" Konny asked hesitantly, contemplating her actions. "
No way, throw it out the window, hahaha."
"Seriously?" Konny asked, with a questioning look tinged with slight surprise.
"I'm just kidding, of course," Max added. "It's better if we go up to the top floor of the building, if possible, and sprinkle it on someone's head, hahaha."
She looked at him with a half-smile, scanning him to see if he was serious.
"Just kidding, of course."
And then they both burst into laughter, so much so that she accidentally spilled some of the mixture on the library carpet.
"Oops, " said Konny.
"That's going to leave a mark, for sure," added Max.
And then they looked at each other seriously and burst into laughter again. When the laughter subsided, Konny finally gulped down the elixir in one go.
"Yuck! Disgusting as I presumed. Now, if I die, I'm going to kill--"
Before she could finish her sentence, her eyelids drooped, and she began to collapse onto the stained library carpet. Fortunately, Max caught her just in time.