[Nexus] A Most Unusual Library (Open)

[Drakkim]

Elaine meandered up the stone steps leading to the dark heavy wooden door, seemingly laden with the weight of a couple of centuries. It seemed more like a Gothic Cathedral than a public library, but the brass sign near the entrance said differently.
Supposedly, this library had been around for ages, and the foreboding outside certainly looked the part. Glancing around, the sky appeared dark and clouded, adding to the intimidating appearance of the building.
She stepped inside hesitantly, her dark chestnut brown hair shielding her face.
The inside of the library was well furnished with leather chairs and comfortable looking rugs, yet it seemed desolate. Bright blue eyes glanced about curiously, calmly studying the interior.
The petite girl strolled toward the more neglected looking section of the institution, filled with leather bound books.
Stopping at a random section, she pulled out a large tome and leafed through its pages, reading aloud to herself.
"And so, the demon god Valauiel raised his Shadow Glaive, about to deal a crippling strike to the Phoenix Princess Kalatome, when-"
A sudden noise caused her to shut the book quickly, and return it to its rightful place. She swiveled around, considerably startled, searching for the source of the sound.
"Hello....? Is anyone there?"
She called out softly.

[Drakkim]

"So you like that one, do you?" Came a voice from further down the towering bookshelf. "Personally, I think they gave Valauiel far too much credit. Demon god? I think not. Fallen angel, fallen demon. How much farther can one fall?" The girl's eyes finally focused on a man, perhaps in his mid twenties to early thirties, sitting at a small table apearantly sorting books. His clothes seemed at the same time modern and somehow hundreds of years out of date and he spoke in a clear tone free of any dialect.

"That book in particular is a troublesome read. It has a mate, which tells the same people's story, apearantly at the same time period. However, there are serious discrepancies. Granted both are translated works, but even tracing them back, the discrepancies remain. Facinating theories have come from the pair, but never a link between the two. Both are histories, yet, how can both be fact?"

The strange man suddenly realized he was talking mainly to himself when there was actually another person staring at him. He turned from the book to the girl and noted her surprise, but continued, so as to not seem more rude that he had already been. "Forgive me madam, I seem to have forgotten my manners. Welcome to the Nexus. I am called by most here Keeper, for I have been here longest among those who watch over these books. It seems I once had a different name, but mayhap even Time has forgotten it."

Elaine had no trouble believing his story, for she had trouble breaking away from his penetrating gaze that seemed much too old for the face that framed them. She could easily see lifetimes of experience behind that gaze.

Elaine drew a shaky breath, quite startled by Keeper's little spiel.
She replied slowly, "Well...don't legends have some small semblance of truth to them, sir...? Besides, history is usually quite biased...if you think about it. So...does this library specialize in history or fact?"
She hoped that the librarian wouldn't become angry with her for making so much noise in the institution. Not many people seemed to venture here...but the few who did probably were rather quaint. What a strange library...containing even stranger people in it.
The librarian she was addressing seemed to be timeless, like the library he occupied. A random figment drifted into her head, of reading a book that stated libraries inhabited a separate time and place than the rest of the world. That theory certainly seemed to apply to this one.
She studied the librarian in turn, feeling most uncomfortable at being the subject of his penetrating gaze.

[Drakkim]

"What is a history book, but legends with a few confirmed facts? After all, in most instances, those books are written by the victors of violence. While key facts may be correct, motivations are misrepresented and inconvenient information is left out.

"The problem with those books is that from the get-go, they are different, even though they focus on the same individuals. a psion, a cat demon . a phoenix demon and a fallen angel-demon. But the sequence of events is drastically different. So much that even though some things happen in both books, some events cannot happen in the sister tome.

"Does that make one history and one myth?"

The Keeper gave a slight smile as he watched the lass sort through the information and awaited her response.

As the girl began once more to turn the pages of the book, a blue-clad man with silver hair and black skin dashed over to her screaming in a stretched and worn voice, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
He lunged for the book, being thwacked deftly on the head by the nearby librarian, who simply said "No yelling in the library."
He scowled angrily, his scarred, blind eye twitching slightly in irritation. "Touchers it not... bad omen it is! Tellers a tale it does, a horrible tale! Tale of old evils from long long ago... curses the soul of who reads it, it does! Callers the name of the Dark Lord it does..." he said, shuddering as he hesitated between ripping the book from her grasp and maintaining some degree of politeness.

Elaine glanced down to see that the book was open, and still in her hands.
'What...? I could've sworn I put it back on the shelf...'
She was even more surprised when an dark man with silver hair reached for the book with such force that it knocked her down to the ground.
She sat there in astonishment with her arms wrapped around the book to protect it; staring up at the man who had knocked her down.
He seemed quite agitated, muttering all sorts of ill-bodings about the book.
Unfortunately, this only served to pique her interest in it. She decided to be polite, despite his sudden appearance. She stood up and replied coolly, brushing a strand of dark hair out of her face with one hand.
"Nice to meet you, too. I'm Elaine."
'Is this for real....? Perhaps I'm in some odd sort of dream. Or I just happen to be out of my mind.'
She glanced over at Keeper, wondering if the other person came here often. His sudden interruption had made her completely lose the trail of thought between history and myth.
"Does this happen often....?"

[Drakkim]

"This in particular?" Keeper asked rhetorically. "No. But you never know what to expect here... it is, after all a nexus. Here collects knowledge spanning a multitude of worlds. Even information from a few rare closed worlds - worlds whose borders touch no known existances - eventually makes it here. Though such information is very difficult to prove and often is marked 'possible myth'."

The librarian's ageless eyes list focus, as if some distant thought held his attention for a moment, then he turned to regard the strange looking newcomer.

Upon her introduction, Lexium realized how rude his warning must have seemed, and bowed hastily, his tail blade striking gracelessly into a pile of books nearby, sending them flying in various directions. The librarian gave him a scornful look, but said nothing. "Apologies miss, apologies aplenty. Rude I was, to speak to you so. Introduce myself as of yet I have not; Lexium Vel'Denoraan I be, a Doomsayer though, most do call me... I speak not doom, but truth of truth! Bad omen that book is, and read it you should not..." He said shakily, still eyeing the book warily, as if at any moment it would lash out and strike him down where he stood.