^^ The Gate ^^
I blinked. "Age? There's an age limit?" I protested, indignant.
--- Greta's POV ---
He nodded. "One must be 16 to study with us here, and a Master. You are a Master, but not 16."
I nodded slowly. "5 years... in that time, I'll take the classes that I haven't taken yet. I've focused on the Core Subjects. I'll take the others, as well."
He nodded. "Very intelligent. Use your time wisely. And when you get here, you could be a Master in all 8 Core Subjects. That would gain you the respect you'd need to succeed here."
"Why would I need respect to succeed?" I asked him.
"Because teachers may choose if you are in their classes, here. The Grand Masters do not tolerate disrespect or challenges to their authority." He sighed. "Close minded fools."
I hummed. "Might be a problem there. I don't Acknowledge Authority."
"And you'll need respect if you want them to not attempt to use their authority. If they never provide you an opportunity to disobey them, then you might succeed." He nodded.
"Why can't I just study on my own? Isn't that an option? Or with a Personal Master?"
He nodded. "Possible. Many have chosen to do so. It allows for a more personal learning experience. I did this as well, though for different reasons." He waved a hand dismissively.
I nodded. "Then I'll see you soon?"
"No. Please do not break into the library through your Hermes Door. I'd rather not have you arrested for Breaking and Entering." He sighed.
"I thought Libraries were public!" I frowned.
"Yes. But the Restricted Section isn't."
"So as long as I stay out of here I'm not breaking any rules?"
"Correct." He nodded.
"Perfect. Good to know. Thank you, Grand Master...?"
"Faust. Marcus Faust." He smiled.
I blinked. "Holy shit."
He raised an eyebrow. "Language."
"But you! You're?! And I'm?! And we're?!? And-"
He held up a hand. "Alright, calm down. How do you know me, again?"
"You don't know the story of Axon Faust?!?" I grinned.
He nodded. "Ahhh. Yes. I am sorry you have had to subject yourself to those old stories-"
"But they're true, I have proof! I live in the House that their ancestor built! The Six Doors of Hermes and the Six Keys?" I grinned.
He nodded. "Ahh... that old place. Technically I own it, but you may live there. Make it your own, I don't care. I don't go there anymore. Haven't in... thirty years? Left the key inside one day and just... left." He hummed, looking off into the distance.
I smiled. "Well, I'll see you soon, and we can talk more. I promise not to break into the Restricted section Gates anymore, and if I want to go into the Restricted Section, I'll ask you. Speaking of which, I have a Rune down here, I wonder where it is..."
He stopped walking, and pulled down a thick sheaf of papyrus. "Right here." He handed the book to me. On its cover was embossed in red 'Greta Falkirk, The Pale Witch'.
I opened it slowly, and grinned. My completed flight Rune was on the first page, and the next 58 pages were the interlocking runes, and their entire abilities and purpose written next to them.
I laughed. "This is amazing! So people will always know who I am... and what I did."
He nodded. "Would you like to see mine?"
I nodded quickly. "Yes sir!!!"
He held a hand out, and I grudgingly released the book. He replaced it on the shelf, and then took a different one from the other side down. A much thicker, red book, not a sheaf of pages.
On its cover was written 'Marcus Faust, Dragon of the Nile '. I smirked. "Dragon of the Nile?" I said disbelievingly.
He chuckled. "From my more warlike days during the Third Asian/Egyptian War."
I nodded and opened it slowly, wary of the old spine, and grinned. The first page held a Rune for Shapeshifting oneself into a Dragon. "A literal Dragon?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yes, but never use it. It's in the restricted section for a reason." He chided.
I nodded and turned the page, seeing a Rune for shrinking objects by moving the particles closer together. "This one I learned in class, how-"
"Not all runes in the Restricted Section are restricted. Some are just in the same files." He shrugged.
I hummed and nodded. "Makes sense... cool..." I closed the book and gently placed it back in its spot, then bowed my head. "Thank you, Grand Master, for the Tour and showing me my File... what must I do to get a Section dedicated to me?" I nodded at a sign that read 'Diamine Ashoka', next to a gate that led into an entire section, about the size of a large apartment.
He chuckled. "Accomplish many, many things? I have one of those too, but it's further back. The front holds the old Grand Masters. The back is the newer ones."
"That doesn't make much sense..."
"It expands backwards, actually. The library is magic, as I'm sure you know. Everything changes on its own. If knowledge is known, it's here. Each great Witch, Lich, or Mage has a section down here that holds their works. Even a few humans have sections." He nodded.
"Humans? Really?"
He nodded. "Such as Marcus Aurelius XXIV."
I blinked slowly. "Oh my gods... I just realized I might have destroyed a priceless artifact..."
He raised an eyebrow slowly, his face set into a disapproving mask. "Explain."
"The spell for a Hermes Door calls for something irreplaceable from a Leviathan and a Daughter of Arachne, and a useless bauble, that's also irreplaceable. I used a small bronze pendant... from a Vault labeled 'XXIV'." I explained simply.
He nodded. "I see. So you did destroy a priceless artifact. Ah well. We probably already knew about it. Don't stress over it." He shrugged nonchalantly.
"Is there an Alchemy section up there?" I pointed upwards.
He raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? I just told you this magic library holds all the known knowledge in the history of mankind."
"Got it. Do you need help putting stuff away down here?" I asked, lacing my fingers behind my back.
He hummed. "Not right now, no. I enjoy coming down here, though. The Library helps me find what I need."
"So it's Sentient?" I asked.
He hummed again. "I think so, but the scholars are very adamant it isn't."
"Well that's just stupid. Magic in any large quantity always gains sentience. That's how Demons came to be." I said simply.
He gazed at me slowly. "I have never heard that."
The library creaked and groaned in a language I recognized. 'Is that so?...'
"Ha! Your library just asked me 'is that so?...' ha! And yes, Mr. Library, that's so. The Demon King told me that he was descended from the first Demon, and that he'd watched as demons came into existence, from pure magical energy gathering too close to more energy." I said like I was in a lecture hall.
'Most interesting, little one. Tell me more, please.'
"His entire Realm came into being when a planet covered in alien life-forms was about to crash into the Earth, and the ancient mages shifted it into the astral plane, or tried, but pushed it too far, and created the Ether." I nodded.
'How does that relate to the creation of Monsters and Demons?'
"Well after that, Mana, something that didn't exist on their planet, mixed with their creatures, and created monsters. But the excess Mana in the Ether coalesced, and created 'Oryx' the first Demon King. Then he set about making more by grouping Mana together and letting it synthesize life." I answered simply.
Master Faust blinked. "How are you talking to the library?"
"He speaks the same language as Baba, my Aunty." I shrugged. He raised an eyebrow, and I grinned. "The creaking in the wood and metal. It's a language." I explained.
I held out a hand, and stroked one bookshelf, and it shuddered. 'You smell of Demons...'
"I have just revealed I spend a great deal of time speaking to and dealing with demons and their history." I shrugged. "And I'd like to keep what I just told you secret. That's going to be my thesis for my Grand-Mastery in Demonology." I grinned.
'Done, on one condition.'
"And what condition is that, sir?"
'Bring this... Baba here. I'd like to speak to another person who speaks my language.' It said hesitantly.
I laughed. "Awe, you want a blind date with my great-aunt? Alright." I opened the Hermes Door, and called Baba. "You'll like this, Baba, I swear."
She swam through the door slowly, and hummed. 'It feels... cramped in here.'
'Because you're inside of me. Your astral form is being compressed, a new feeling for you, I'm sure... I am Enoch. Hello.'
She hummed and rolled a few times, then nodded. 'Amusing...' then she shifted into a human form, and looked around. "Where are you, Enoch? Surely you've learned to create a human form?"
A small, scholarly man appeared slowly from the wood-dust, and adjusted his glasses. "H-hello." He squeaked.
She chuckled. "Greta dear, take your old man and leave us... I have business here..."
"Umm... please don't eat him... or kill him. I'd rather you didn't, please." I asked.
She laughed. "I'm not going to hurt him. Go on." She shooed me.
I hummed and walked away, then halted. "Oh gods no I will not listen to that, Enoch, Baba! Silence!" I commanded, covering my ears.
Master Faust looked at me curiously. "What's wrong?"
"Eeeeew!!!!" I shouted, and sprinted through the Hermes door, slamming it shut.
Mirage laughed loudly, rolling around on her back. "Oh gods Gramma has game!!! HAHAHAHA!!"
I glared. "That was disgusting! I didn't know Wood could bend that way!" I hissed.
She just kept laughing, crying from how hard she was laughing. She eventually sobered. "Oh that was great... haaa... anyway... moving on. What do you want to do with your five years of waiting?"
"I'll take all the Demonology and Craft classes that are left, as well as musicology... I want to exhaust everything the college can teach me." I sighed, focusing.
She nodded. "I can make that happen. Let's go, then."
I opened the door and stepped into my room, grinning. "No more portals all the time! Yay!"
She closed and locked the door, nodding. "It is rather interesting, isn't it? What could cause such smooth portals? Why doesn't it pull at us like a normal portal?" She asked.
"It isn't a portal, is why. It's a rip in time-space, like when you summon a high ranked demon, not an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Hermes himself invented them." I shrugged.
"How do you know that?" She asked, incredulous.
"Didn't you read the books Arachnida wrote?" I sighed. "That was one of the first entries I saw. I have to read them all later." I resolved.
She nodded. "Alright... well, moving on. I can find you some classes while you go to your shop and see how things are going."
I nodded and stepped out of the window, flying out of the gate and towards my Café/Shop.
I landed on the front steps, and smiled, walking in slowly to view all the details that had changed.
Business was good, obviously, as people came and went quickly, easily finding and paying for what they needed.
My Demon Servants were making it look easy, half of them serving the tables on the top level, the other half spread around the café and one behind the counter in the very back, which was where the magical wares were stored and sold out of a window with a hundred different levels of warding.
I nodded. "Very nice work while I was gone, Natasha." I said it in a normal voice, but she heard, from the kitchen. She poked her head out, smiled brightly, and went back to working.
I sat down at a table up top, and a few minutes later someone came by to ask me what I wanted. I ordered a cup of Snake Root Tea, and a crepe, and the servant Demon bowed, returning with my order in only another few minutes. I asked why it took so long to brew, and the servant replied that he'd had to start a new pot.
Apparently Snake Root Tea wasn't as popular as I'd thought, because it looked like blood when brewed correctly, (which I'd never allow it served anything but,) and so most people were afraid to try it.
Speaking of the devil...
"Uhm... miss?" A boy to my left gently got my attention.
I looked at him. "Yes?"
"I'd like to ask, and please don't take offense... are you a Demon?" He asked slowly.
"Not even close, I'm a Witch. Why?" I asked curiously.
He blushed. "It's just... you were drinking blood-"
"It's not blood. It's Tea. Snake Root Tea, my favorite in the world. It's bitter, with a sweet undertone I adore." I smiled, and sipped at the last of my cup of tea, sighing in disappointment.
My servant quickly appeared, and refilled the cup. I smiled at him. "Thank you, Acundi."
He blushed and bowed his head, hustling away.
I looked back at the boy, and smiled. "See? Just Tea. We don't serve blood here, to my knowledge... or do we? Acundi, do I serve Blood here?" I asked to the side.
"No, Mistress. You sell all different kinds, in your shop, but not in the café to drink, no." He shook his head.
"Mm." I nodded, dismissing him.
"Oh... I see." The boy sat back down, humming.
I smiled at him. "I wonder, do I look like a Demon?"
His eyes widened in panic. "No! No, that's not what I was implying at all-" he took a deep breath, and I raised a hand imperiously.
"You are forgiven, little one. All is forgotten." I said simply, and turned back to my teacup. I breathed in the delicious notes of bitter and sweet, chocolate and honeysuckle, and relaxed, gazing out over the balcony at the controlled chaos under us.
At least, until the front door imploded, and several Men in Iron Armor marched in.
((( MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! )))
((( or happy holidays, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or any other random holiday!!! )))