Bibliotheca Mundi

Chapter 7

"Q-... quoi ?"

"Surrender !!"

France looks up at England, bewildered. He could see the anger and the pain in his eyes... pain ?

"I won't sign your stupid treaty ! Now surrender, or leave !"

Realizing quickly what England is doing, France plays along. "I beg you, please !!"

"What did I just say ? I won't sign it ! Never !!"

Standing up from his chair, France frowns at him and yells back, "Alright then, I'll leave !!"

"About time." says another voice behind him.

The next moment, France's heart starts to race, his face slowly losing its colour. Both men stay motionless, unable to move.

"Will you ?" says the voice again.

Gathering his courage, France turns around and walks towards the opened door, doing his best to keep a neutral attitude. England, on the other side, quickly changes his annoyed face and uncrosses his arms to answer, going back to his calm state, "My apologies, boss."

The man was standing next to the entrance, tall, stern, an intimidating aura emanating from him. He's wearing his usual dark suit, a simple tie and collared shirt under it, black pointy shoes on his feet. All of his physical features scream authority, going from his deep voice, to his frowning brows and dark hair. "Hm. Now go back to work, England. I came to talk about our next plans."

Standing straight with his arms down on his sides, England answers with a short "Yes, sir !"

At the same moment, the lady who accompanies visitors to the office walks in. Hesitating at first to talk, she stays professional and looks over at France. "I must ask you to follow me, sir."

Without a word, France obeys and walks with her out of the office, leaving England and his boss alone. His hands in his pockets, staring at the floor, France follows slowly, wondering if he's really leaving this place for the last time. As they reach the door at the other end of the hallway, the woman opens it for him and waits on the side.

Letting out a desperate sigh, France has already walked out of the corridor when he hears the woman's voice say quietly behind him, "I'm sorry for what happened. Good luck."

Widening his eyes, not believing what he just heard, France quickly turns to her, only to see a closed door, which leaves him standing there alone, confused.

On the other side of the English Channel, the country of neutrality, Switzerland.

Known for staying out of all conflicts and remaining neutral since long ago, the small country in the center of Europe was one day given a big responsibility by decision of all the countries throughout the world. That day was now considered as one of the important dates in History, and today, Liechtenstein is learning about it.

"What is today's lesson, big brother ?" Liechtenstein is sitting on a bench, in the middle of a grassy plain. In front of her, Switzerland is standing next to a chalkboard on small wheels. When the weather was nice, they liked to have lessons outside, under the warmth of the sun.

"Today, I'll tell you about the Library."

Feeling excited already, Liechtenstein looks at him writing the title of the lesson with a white chalk at the top of the board. She's always heard people mention that Library, and talk about the Books, but she only has a vague knowledge of it.

"First, a bit of History." Switzerland is taking his role of big brother very seriously. He wants to teach Liechtenstein about everything he can, so she can be, one day, fully independent and able to stand up for herself if he can't be there for her. After writing the titles, he turns to her and starts. "Since as far as we have traces about it, Books were kept wherever people lived. Long ago, they were kept in the familial house. With time, Books started to be gathered in less and less Libraries. At first, they were gathered in a Library in the center of their owners' town, so as there was one Library per town. Later, it was one Library per city, then a Library in the few main cities of the country, and eventually they were all kept in one big Library in the capital of their owners' country. If there wasn't any capital, then they were kept wherever the leaders were." Pausing here, he writes a few notes on the board, before asking, "You're good so far ?"