Addie watched as the Binary set outside her window. Aggan was in the forefront today, so today she couldn’t see the black hole at all. Instead, she got to see Aggan set by itself on the horizon in all of his splendor, unmarred by black taint. Sunsets were always fast, just a few minutes, making this view a rare sight for Addie. She observed as Aggan’s bright blue light dipped below the horizon, painting the sky dark purple as it descended. Aggan took on a white haloing effect, and the setting aurora clouds lazily drifted from the star, white hazes with green accents bouncing off. Soon, Aggan cleared the horizon, and the sky turned a deep red before fading to reveal the distant stars.
It was time to go back to the library. The old man told her to come back after she made peace with her birdie, and while not everything felt perfect between them yet, things had progressed a lot since she first met that old man. Besides, she had to leave for home in the morning, so there wouldn’t be another chance.
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Christena facepalmed and then gently rubbed her eyes, “No, Addie, you cannot go see the old man in the library in the middle of the night.”
“But, why?? I’m even trying to listen to you better by getting permission first!” Addie explained.
“That’s...” Christena sighed, “Have you even finished packing yet?”
Addie glanced off to the side and met eyes with Squishy. He seemed to shrug back at her telepathically.
“Not really,” Addie said quietly, but she quickly tried to gloss over it, “But it doesn’t matter! It’s only going to take me like five minutes to get ready!” she pleaded.
Addie held onto Christena’s sleeve and lightly jumped in the air a few times, “Please, please, pleeease!”
Christena was about to say something, but based on the frown on her face Addie hadn’t managed to convince her yet, so Addie quickly spoke up again before Christena had a chance to speak.
“He said he could help me with learning magic!” Addie desperately pleaded.
Rolling her eyes and letting out a breath, Christena said, “Well, based on how hyper you are right now, I’m not going to have an easy time convincing you not to go tonight.”
Addie started smiling as her hope grew.
“But I’m coming with you! Aggan forbid I leave you with some random old man in the middle of the night.”
“Yes!” Addie shouted into the empty halls.
“Shh! Your aunt and cousin are sleeping.” Christena commanded in a harsh whisper.
“Sorry,” Addie whispered back.
Christena sighed again, “Alright, let me get my Slyfox scarf.”
That silly comment made Addie giggle.
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While standing in the brisk fall air, Addie reached her hand out toward the library door. She stopped her hand in front of it just before she could knock.
Last time, that rude, annoying old man had really gotten on Addie’s nerves, but this time Addie had a plan. This time, she was going to annoy him, instead!
She shook her head. That wasn’t important right now. No, she felt a sort of calling from within the library. The space magic throughout the library, the hidden room in the ceiling, and the snarky old man with his promises of sharing knowledge on soul melding— Addie wanted those answers.
And she was ready for them. She was ready to grow stronger, to move past all of the bad things that happened with Ember. She wasn’t just ready to face the old man. She was ready to face herself.
Addie gulped in one last big breath and then let it go as she knocked on the massively sturdy wooden doors.
They started opening all on their own, revealing a pitch-black interior. Addie instinctively swept the area with her spatial sense, but it was like staring at a solid wall. According to her spatial sense, not only was the room empty, there wasn’t even a room at all!
Cautiously, Addie stuck her hand into the void. She expected to meet resistance, but instead, her hand passed through the pitch-black exterior like it was merely empty air.
“Well, that’s not ominous,” Christena quipped. “Alright, let me walk in first,” Christena started walking forward.
Then, without warning, something on the other side of the void grabbed onto Addie’s extended hand and pulled.
In response, Christena started shouting, “AADDI—”
Instantly, the force of the pull swept Addie off of her feet and quickly dragged her into its depths before Christena could even finish shouting.
Addie took a deep gulp of air, as her bum gently sat down into the plain wooden chair underneath her.
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“Name and age?” The old librarian asked from across the familiar-looking coffee table.
“You already know that!” Addie shouted.
Then, she swept her head from side to side, only just now taking in the sights. It looked exactly the same as the last time she was here, an endless void with nothing but Addie on the chair, the old man in a similar chair across the table, and Squishy standing next to Addie’s chair acutely observing his surroundings.
“Where’s Christena?” Addie asked a question of her own.
“Miss Owlcharge is perfectly safe.” Addie noticed the old man using the title for those of lower status while referring to Christena.
“Now, name and age?”
“Hmph!” Addie crossed her arms and glared at the rude old man.
“Name: Hmph. Age: ‘Crossed Arms’” the old man narrated as he began writing it down in his ledger.
“That’s not my name! Or my age.” Addie corrected him with a deepening frown.
The man looked over his glasses without moving his head.
“Name and age?” he repeated in that monotone tone that barely counted as questioning.
“Addie, Lomain. I’m ten. But I’ll be eleven this fall.
“Addie Lomain.” The man repeated while looking down at his ledger. “Ah yes, I meet with you in the year 408 A.S.”
The man shut the ledger with a loud crack, scattering dust into the air. He didn’t seem to mind it. “Very well then, Addie.” He placed the ledger down on the coffee table and then crossed his hands in his lap while staring at Addie. His eyes looked like blank voids.
Addie fidgeted. Why did he phrase it like that? This year was 408 A.S., and they had just talked two days ago!
“Um,” Addie fidgeted more, “I wanted to ask you some questions,” she said, suddenly feeling like coming here wasn’t a good idea in the first place.
“Yes, this must be about the equations then? Ee equals emsee squared. Or wait, it’s too early for that? Shoot.” He bent over and reached out to grab the ledger again, opening it to near the end pages. “Oh yes, dreadfully early on that one, this will surely affect fate?” He flipped a few pages back, “Ah, good. Nope, that won’t put a dent in it.” He looked up at Addie, “You must not be too bright. You’ll have to excuse me, I’m still getting used to—” he gestured around the endless void, “All of this.”
Addie scrunched up her face in confusion and slight revulsion. She could feel Squishy’s concern for the situation, too. This guy was crazy. Also, he felt like an entirely different person compared to before! But that creepy monotone voice of his sounded the same at least.
“Uhh,” Addie felt unsure of the situation but managed to continue ahead anyway, “I wanted to ask about soul melding. Last time you said you would answer questions about it.”
“Last time?” His normally flat tone inflected just enough to qualify as a question. “Perhaps I did. Alright then, ask away,” He waved his hand dismissively.
Addie fidgeted. This felt completely different from last time. She couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not.
“Ember is in my soul right now. Is that soul melding?” she glanced up with insecurity.
He gave her a blank look, “Indeed.”
...
“Um,” Addie interrupted the silence.
“Yes?”
“I have more questions,” she started hesitantly.
“Well, go on then,” he waved his hand through the air.
“What even is soul melding?”
“Something you aren’t ready to play around with. But I don’t particularly care so I’ll tell you anyway. Soul melding is a technique that allows one to increase power for the soul bonds with their bonded— in some cases exponentially.”
“Ekuso-potentially?” Addie tried to repeat the unfamiliar word.
“Exponentially,” The old librarian corrected, “Just think of it as meaning, ‘a lot’— the full explanation would be beyond you I’m sure.”
“I’m not stupid,” Addie said with some venom, “You are rude.”
“Then I suppose that means you are all done asking me questions and I can finally get back to work.” He began to stand up, scooting his chair back in the process.
“Wait!” Addie jumped out of her chair and put her hands in the air, “How can I get better at it?”
“Truly powerful foes will use bursts of soul melding to increase their power in tough situations. First, you should better learn to protect your soul.” The grand librarian’s body outline began to fade as he walked into the void.
“How do I do that?” Addie shouted into the encroaching darkness.
“Practice the transcendent loop. Master it. Learn. Heal your soul. Grow. Become powerful.” His voice faded into the distance.
The library ejected Addie from its depths, pushing against her body gently but unyieldingly. She flew back so fast it felt like she was falling backward— Her arms and legs flailing forward as her body arched with the force.
Then, she stood before the library, hand outstretched into the void. Except, now it wasn’t a void, but just a simple dark entryway.
“—IIEE!” Christena shouted almost directly into Addie’s ear from behind. “Oh.” Addie noticed that Christena was panting.
“Why did you shout into my ear!” Addie complained.
She shook her head, “I could have sworn I saw you get sucked into the library!” Christena exclaimed. “But, what? I need to get my eyes checked or something.”
“No, you’re right. I talked to the librarian.”
Christena’s face contorted in confusion. “From my perspective, you never left. It was like I saw you getting jerked around, first into the library and then right back out.”
“Let’s go back,” Addie suggested, turning her head back in the direction of Auntie’s mansion.
“Ok, but what did he say?”
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“Get up! It’s time to go.”
Christena forcefully yanked all the blankets off of Addie, causing her to slide a little bit across the bed.
“Hey!” Addie’s indignant frustration somehow pushed past the bleary grogginess still stuck behind her eyes. Now completely awake, Addie finished hopping out of bed.
“Don’t forget anything!” Christena left the room with a sly smile, closing the door behind her before Addie could even get a single complaint out.
Without too much thought behind it, Addie quickly grabbed all of her clothes out of the dresser, hurriedly snatched up all the stuff she had lying around in the bathroom, and rapidly changed out of her pajamas. She had just finished stuffing everything into her luggage when Christena came back to the room to check on her.
She entered the room with an approving nod. “Don’t forget to double-check all the furniture for anything you missed!” Then, she exited the room to let Addie finish.
Addie put the straps of her backpack over her shoulders, and she closed the buckles on her big carrying bag. She started leaving the room but took one last glance over her shoulder behind her.
Even if Christena said to double-check, they had no time for that! It was time to go. Besides, she wouldn’t forget anything, anyway. She left her room without a worry in the world, Squishy strutting along beside her.
Soon, she would need to see her dad again, and that’s what she thought about as she walked through the hallways and down the stairs to get to the front entrance.
Nettal wasn’t here yet, but she would be soon.
“Addie?” Christena called from outside the open entryway. “Can you help me load up the cart?”