Alexandria (ONC entry)

Part six

By the time Maxence and Asura had reached the library, the wind had reached its full force and the clouds had gathered above the city of Athens – the temperature was still pleasant, but the darkness covering the usually lively city was a stark contrast to the fact that it was late afternoon. Maxence's hair whipped around her, the wind raking its fingers through her locks with a sense of urgency that she hadn't felt before. Did it know she was onto something?

She hurriedly explained her ideas to Asura – tried to, at least – and even as she said it out loud, it made sense. It made sense to her, but at the same it was so absurd, and Asura didn't hesitate to let her know how he felt about it. "Max, this is crazy. This is insane –"

"It is. It's batshit crazy – and it makes sense! all of it makes sense, look. Look!"

She burst into the library, throwing a quick apology over her shoulder at the librarian, who was talking at a rapid-fire speed into a mobile phone, tears staining her cheeks and gazing out into the storm raging outside. She didn't seem to even pay attention to the two sopping wet maniacs barreling into her small library.

"Oh, damn, it's all in greek," Maxence muttered, sprinting through the aisles searching for one particular category. "Maybe there's an english section?"

"There," Asura said, tugging on her sleeve, pointing at a blue board spelling something in Greek, and underneath that, English books. Even though Asura had clearly expressed his doubts in her plan, he did go along with what she asked, and Maxence appreciated that.

She raced to the shelves, praying to every deity that she could find the book she was looking for, tilting her head and running her fingers across the backs. There. She yanked the book from its place, scanned over the rest and pulled two more from their spots, shoving them into Asura's arms.

"Here. Start with those."

"Start with – what?" Asura sputtered, a bewildered expression on his face. He gently set the books down on a wooden table, grabbing Maxence's wrist and forcing her to stop her flurrying and look him in the eye. "Hold on a second. What am I even looking for?"

Maxence plopped her own thick Greek Mythology book onto the table and flicked on the reading light next the table. "One goddess. Nemesis."

For what felt like hours – but were probably only a couple of minutes – Maxence called out, "Here you go." Asura looked up, still looking irritated and confused. A look from Maxence was enough to make him purse his lips and gesture for her to go on. "'Nemesis was the ancient Greek goddess of divine retribution. As such, she meted out punishment for evil deeds, undeserved good fortune, and hubris (arrogance before the gods).'"

"Yeah? And?" He slumped back in his chair, crossing his arms. "Listen, Max, no matter how much I want to, I have no idea where you're going with this."

She raised a finger. "Getting to that. 'Today, the idea of nemesis normally equates to an arch-enemy, but another dictionary definition of the word is "an inescapable agent of someone's downfall".'" She turned a page, scanning the text blocks and following her progress with a finger, muttering the words under her breath at machine-gun speed. Tapping a particular paragraph, she shoved the book over that table into Asura's hands and reached below the table – her briefcase.

"'A festival called Nemeseia was held at Athens. Its object was to avert the vengeance of the dead, who were supposed to have the power of punishing the living, if their cult had been in any way neglected. This evolved into a festival giving homage to Nemesis.'" he read, a tired undertone to his voice. "Max, I still don't see–"

A click sounded when Maxence's thumbs had found their place in the green rectangles and the locks popped open. "There we go," she muttered, a feeling of dread and excitement in her stomach at what she was going to do. The scrolls inside the case laid there, seeming to stare holes into her forehead, and Maxence was barehanded, and this was the literal last place she should be handling ancient documents, but drastic times called for drastic measures.