Upon hearing the monk's warning, Adam tightly held the children's hands and started running like crazy towards the stairs, carefully looking at the ground filled with mud and puddles, searching for unfamiliar footprints.
As he ran like crazy, Adam began to hear the sound of clashing chains coming from behind him, causing the young hero to turn around in fear. However, Adam couldn't see anything behind him, but the noise was getting louder and louder, so the young hero started running even faster towards the stairs.
Luckily, the stairs were quite close, and after running through a few corridors, the three young ones were finally near the stairs. However, during their run, the children were mesmerized by the red flowers more than once and had to stop to snap out of it. Each time Adam noticed one of them slowing down, he quickly placed his hand on their shoulder and pushed them forward to wake them up.
After running for a few minutes, Adam reached the stairs but was surprised by what he found: There was only a marble wall blocking the entrance! The red-haired hero tried not to lose his composure, but the clashing sound of chains was growing louder, so Adam desperately ran towards the wall and began hitting it with his hand.
—Big guy, there's someone watching us from the hallway!— Hermes cried out in fear, covering his ears; from the look on his face, the murmurs seemed unbearable.
Upon hearing the warning, Adam quickly turned around and saw the creature observing them from a distance: It appeared to be an adult librarian, wearing a snow-white tunic. However, unlike most tunics, it had a white hood covering half of his face, and on the sleeves, there were two cardinal roses embroidered in gold. The librarian's half-exposed face only revealed a macabre smile as he looked at the three young ones with no escape. Adam nervously noticed that all of the librarian's teeth were jagged and resembled sharp knives: That thing couldn't be a librarian!
However, the creature seemed to be unable to advance or, rather, it tried desperately, but silver chains filled with spikes prevented it from reaching the three young ones.
But before Adam could celebrate that the creature was trapped, the chains broke, and the creature ran like a madman towards them. Immediately, the marble head of the general formed on the wall, and Adam saw how the creature came closer with madness.
Without hesitation, the general opened his mouth and swallowed the boys, making them disappear from the hallway, leaving the creature banging its fists against the marble wall.
Adam and the two children were stunned to find themselves inside the spiral staircase. While the entrance was blocked by the giant head of the general, he looked at them dazed and asked:
—What are you kids doing in these parts? Aren't you too young to be searching for clues around here?
—What was that thing?!— Apolo asked fearfully.
—Who was that thing?... That's the real question you should be asking...— the general replied begrudgingly.
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But before the kids could continue asking, the general opened his mouth and spat ink at Apolo, shouting in a military tone:
—I asked you a question, soldier: Answer, or I'll kick you out of my stairs!
Ignoring the shelf's displeasure, Adam eagerly commented:
—A villain kidnapped these two kids to this area, and I got in to try to rescue them. But I don't know how to go back: Could you help me save these poor children?
The general looked worriedly at the two children, especially their tunics, and muttered with even more concern:
—These two kids are from the day care center... Are things that bad?...
Adam didn't understand what he meant, but if the general didn't give him useful information, he could only turn to his godfather.
—Do you know how I can rescue them?— Adam asked again with concern, hoping not to be ignored.
—I've been ordered not to tell anyone how to escape from this place...— the general replied, looking at the three with pity.
Adam cursed inwardly but tried not to show his worry to avoid alarming the two children, who looked at him as if he were their last hope. The young hero sat on one of the steps and prepared to communicate with his godfather.
It had been almost two years since Adam last used his godfather's biography, as he hadn't found it very helpful in solving his current problems. With some nervousness about his godfather's reaction after being ignored for so long, the young hero took out a pencil from a specially designed pocket and explained the situation.
To his surprise, his godfather didn't seem to notice how much time had passed or deliberately ignored the topic and instead replied by slowly making the words appear in the biography:
'Don't worry, you're just on the other side of the mirror of hexagon 2 out of 18 / 4 out of 18.
You just need to cross it again, and you'll be safe once more. To enter this area, you have to break some rule, and to exit the reverse world, you must go to the mirror and cross it.
But be careful, these floors are used for trafficking merchandise and people. Also, the creatures in the reverse world can be terribly dangerous. Although, on the first wooden floor, there were only "inkwells" in my time, and it probably hasn't changed. But there were rumors of another beast that was even worse.'
Adam saw a way out and smiled happily for the children. They were not far from the mirrors: there were only two mirrors per floor, and they were on every floor, just like the stairs. But for the young hero, those mirrors had always seemed rather useless, especially considering they had the lake water that could function as a mirror.
With doubts, Adam sought more details about the current situation; he didn't want to have to stop and ask again in the middle of a corridor far from the safety provided by the stairs: 'What are the two creatures, and what do I do when I reach the mirror?'
His godfather replied:
'The "inkwell" is a pretty ugly and large beast. When you hear bubbles bubbling in one of the corners, you have to touch a wooden plank and stay still until it passes through the hallway: Don't let go for anything and don't do anything else but hold onto the plank!
The inkwell will notice you and mark you with its ink, but it's not dangerous if you touch the wood before it sees you. The key to surviving an inkwell is to hear the bubbling before it sees you, but with your karma, it should be quite easy to do; the laments of the doomed librarians won't affect you much.
I don't know what the second creature is, and no one knows what it is: I only heard rumors about it: it's related to an ancient curse that seeks to prevent a librarian named Abel from escaping from this floor. Basically, if you hear something approaching that doesn't make bubbling noises, run like hell towards the stairs, and you'll be safe.
As for your question about the mirror: you just have to cross it, literally, meaning you have to get inside the mirror.'