Dear diary, I might have just made a lot of people very angry

It is already late as I put down the last scroll; the sun is already on its arc, and it is down to meet the sea. Kuro, our guard escort, and I are on the roof of the library doing some reading while overlooking the bay. The library is nice and probably the most insane thing I have ever seen, but I can get stir-crazy even if I do nothing but sit all day.

It’s also at this moment that something changed. It's not a fast change but a slow one. Shouting can be heard, not the normal amount of shouting in a city, but more of the urgent kind of shouting. I frown as I start looking for the source. Then I spotted a boat on fire far in the distance at the bay entrance.

I look at it, trying to discern its cause, only to see a rain of fire fall down on another ship. I stand up, trying to get a better view of the situation, only to realise that the boats that encircled the city before are now a lot closer now. My mind raised is this it: are they going to try and take the city?

I look at the walls, but they appear to be fine and not under any kind of threat. So it's just the ships, then, but why? I guess escape is one option the ships could use to circumvent the blockade. It would not be easy, but it would be possible, and even on these old ships, you could still carry a lot of stuff.

“Should we do something? If I can get close, I can put out the fires,” I say to one of the guards, who is also looking at the carnage up ahead of us.

“Stay here,” he says “I will go ask the captain.”

And with that, he is off, leaving me with three guards who are all looking at the port with concern. The longer we watch it go on, the more ships are brought alight. They waited for the right opportunity. It had been dry for a while, making everything a lot easier to burn. And choosing the end of the day when everything is still hot from the warm sun is a good choice.

Some of the burning ships start to sink, but a more concerning number of them keep floating in the harbour, burning any ship they happen to bump into. Making the problem grow exponentially as time passes; then, the first ships hit the side of the harbour, tumbling over into the street, and setting some of the houses on fire.

“We should go down so we can act immediately when we have the word,” I say with a frown as I look at the spectacle.

The others nod, and we quickly run down, grab the scrolls, and run downstairs. I dump the scrolls on my study table, run to the library door, and wait there for any word to come back. The screaming and shouting in the city are a lot louder now as different bells are rung.

We wait for a long time as I get more and more nervous, bouncing from one foot to the other, ready to run at the problem at any minute now. However long we wait, no one comes. Then suddenly, a small whistle can be heard, as suddenly the shaft of an arrow sprouts from one of the guards as he clutches at his neck.

I jump back inside behind one of the columns as the man falls to the ground. I look to the other guards, who look just as confused as me.

“Kuro, go check!” I shout.

“On it, boss,” he says before he turns into the shadows and disappears.

As I wait for Kuro to return, I take a look around, trying to figure out what is going on. And then I hear it in the distance footsteps. I glance past the column, but no one looks to be walking to the entrance. Then I look to the side only to realise that there is some light coming from the west. As I look, I realise it is the sun meaning that the west entrance is open.

“Enemies from the west!” I shout at the guards, and they nod, facing that direction as we wait for something to happen.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I can clearly hear footsteps now, and there is a lot more than I think the remaining two can handle. They seem to release it as well. They make some kind of hand motion as they start to sneak further into the library. I follow them, not wanting to be alone when whatever fight that is going to happen starts.

We keep sneaking like this when the shadows around us suddenly turn dark and my little Kat friend reappears.

“There are Roman infiltrators in here that want to kill you I think,” he says, not bothering to speak in whatever language he usually speaks, which is just a collection of meows. Instead, choosing to speak whatever they speak here, cluing our guards into the problem.

“That is problematic,” I say as I think of some solutions.

If they are here for me, then they are not going to leave as easily as I hoped. We could try to hide somewhere or just leave the library in its entirety. I am unsure as to how many archers they have, but it can’t be a lot, right?

Suddenly, a shelf collapses, and a soldier walks through with his sword drawn. He smiles as he spots us.

“You were hard to find daughter of Apollo. Come quietly with us, and we will introduce you to Ceasar,” he says.

“Kuro sword!” I shout.

And my sword pops out of my shadow, and I level it at the soldier. “I am not in the mood for this.”

“Have it your way then.” He says as he swings his sword down.

I block the shock of it, reverberating through my arms. I should have really learned how to fight with a sword. At some point, all I can do is bat at him, ineffectually trying' to keep him away. As he is pushing me back, I come up with an other plan and shoot a gout of flame at him to distract him long enough to run away.

“Get out of here and get reinforcements. It's me. They want me to distract them!” I shout at the guards.

They nod and head in a different direction than us. I try my best to circle the soldiers, throwing fire at them whenever they get too close. Sadly, this means some of the scrolls catch fire as well. Setting large parts of the library aflame. I really hope they did not store anything important here.

One positive side effect of all this fire is that it becomes a lot harder for the soldiers to group up on me. I keep dodging and weaving between them, my enhanced strength enough to keep out of reach. But at some point, I run out of room. I am driven into a wall, and there are about five soldiers surrounding me.

I look around, trying to figure a way out when suddenly I feel it. The amulet against my chest starts to vibrate. So it actually charged a bit, but not all the way. I smile as I take it out.

“Kuro it is time to go!” I shout

The cat gets my cue and jumps at me, disappearing in my shadow. Green, blue, purple, green. The burning building disappears, being replaced by total darkness. Ooh, great, not this again. I groan internally but realise that this time, I at least have a light.

I create a small flame in my hand, allowing me to scan the room. I frown. This is not a cave. There are shelves with cleaning supplies and brooms in the corner. I quickly locate the light switch and turn on the light, allowing me to extinguish the flame in my hand.

“Kuro, are you okay?” I ask.

The cat reappears on my shoulder. “I thought you said that we needed to wait one more day before we could travel again?”

“Yeah, but whatever we did yesterday probably gave us enough juice to skip a day. If only I had known that, I would not have had to burn that much of the library.” I say

“You can regret that later. We should get out of this supply closed first.”

I nod and open the door into a hallway, but not any hallway. I recognise this hallway is my school. How did I get here? also, more importantly, what day is it? I am about to go investigate when I suddenly get tackled by someone who drags me back into the supply closet.

“Mo, what are you doing here?” The girl asks in a panic

But not any girl. This is Sophia, my one and only best friend. Her brown eyes stare at me intently, and I just swallow.

“I am not exactly sure. What day is it?” I ask

“That is not important. Who is Mo,” Kuro asks.

Sophia squeals, “The cat can talk.”

“Yeah, a lot happened, and Mo is short for Opapâmohtew. Which is my real name.” I say between grided teeth.

“Well, that is a nice name,” he says a bit awkwardly

“Yeah, whatever,” I say noncommittally

“Is anyone going to tell me why the cat can talk? “Sophia hisses at me.

“Oh right, Kuro is an alien. Kuro meets Sophia, my best friend,” I say, trying to introduce them to each other.

“I see, but where have you been? The police are looking for you.” Sophia says.

“Wait, really, what happened?” I ask concerned.

“I don’t know. The police were looking for you, and they took your parents into custody. We were told that you stole a weapon,” she says while looking at my sword.

“I doubt they are looking for this.” I say, “Look, I tell you everything, but if people are looking for me, we should get out of here and to a safe place.”

“That is a good idea.” Sophia says, “But why does it smell like smoke in here?”

“Ah, I just set Alexandra’s library on fire,” I say a bit awkwardly.