"Oi, Serifys! Where're you headed?"

   Serifys stopped and turned at the sound of his name. Jermyn stood at the porch railing, staring at him.

   "To the library," Serifys responded.

   "Can you grab something for me on your way back?"

   Serifys sighed and trudged back to him. He'd wanted to go to the library today, to find out more about the Fire Rose and why Satorus would want it. But every time he tried to leave, somebody always caught up to him with some errand, and already, evening had fallen.

   He listened as Jermyn told him what he wanted, and when he was done, continued on his way once more. The streets were full once more. There had been less people than usual the past few days, due to the fear of Satorus, but eventually, it had gone along with the time, and now all was mostly back to normal, except for the city gates, which were skirted by most.

   Eventually he got to the library, a majestic building of many pillars and burgundy walls. He climbed up the steps, which were mostly empty, excluding himself and some others of Kreatrix's age come to study.

    He stepped inside, and a few more feet in and he was hit by the cool wash of air. The library was a vast building and was almost always cool due to the way it had been built.

   Serifys made his way to the desk where the librarian, a middle-aged man, sat. His gray eyes were infused with the extreme paleness of a Candor.

   "Do you need help finding something?" he asked, even before Serifys could open his mouth.

   "Yes, actually. I was going to ask you where the history section is?"

   "Behind Geography. Over there." The man pointed and Serifys turned to look in that direction, spotting a sign spelling out 'History' almost immediately. He thanked the man, feeling slightly dumb for not noticing the sign earlier, and went to the place he'd been looking for.

   He trailed his fingers along the books as he walked, searching through the alphabetically organized shelves for mention of the Fire Rose.

    After ten minutes, he'd found nothing.

   It seemed as if this search was due to take quite a while.

   An hour passed, and something that Serifys hadn't foreseen happened: he finished the History section without finding anything at all about the Fire Rose. He stopped at the end of the last shelf and looked behind him to see the endless rows of books. The idea of double-checking entered his mind, but he quickly decided against it. It would take far too long.

   Serifys trudged out from the bookcases, disappointed by the results of his search - or perhaps the lack of results.

   Suddenly, an idea struck, and he turned his head towards the far corner of the library, where a faded sign with the word "Restricted" hung. It was an old sign, dusty from neglect. It appeared like the library people hadn't bothered to clean it due to how small the amount of people that used it was.

   Serifys walked towards the desk, and once again, the librarian spoke before him.

  "Do you need something?"

"I was, well, I was wondering if I could possibly get a pass into Restricted Checkout?"

   The man leaned forward, narrowing his pale eyes. "For what reason?"

   "I'd like to research something, and I wasn't able to find it in the normal library, so..."

   "Alright." He sat back, and rummaged under the desk for a moment before pulling out a cream-colored piece of hardened parchment and holding it out to Serifys. "Just remember that the library closes soon."

   "Yes, thank you," Serifys said, taking the card and turning his own green Candor gaze towards the Restricted section. He'd have to hurry. He didn't have much time left for his search.

   Serifys unhooked the barrier chain, crossed over, and hooked it back on as he went into the Restricted section. The bookcases of the Restricted section were tall, much taller than those of the normal libraries. Serifys raised his head to see how far they went and realized that they connected with the ceiling.

   He progressed farther into the Restricted section, the place around him getting darker and gloomier with each step. Soon, he could see nothing of the shelves lower than his knees, and he stumbled over books splayed haphazardly on the ground from time to time. There were gaps in the bookcases from time to time, where books did not fill the shelves and dark holes yawned.

   A soft noise came from up above. Serifys narrowed his eyes as he stepped forward silently.

   He suddenly realized that they were voices, and stopped moving completely, trying to listen, but he soon found that he was too far away to really hear them.

   Serifys began to move forward carefully, feeling the ground with his feet before each step to make sure that he wouldn't fall and create noise. Eventually the voices grew clearer, and he started to be able to make out a word here and there.

   "Fenix...safe?...not sure...Vesper..."

    One particular set of words drifted to him and he looked up sharply.

   "Fire Rose..."

   These people were talking about the Fire Rose.

   "Satorus..."

   A moment later, the mention of the criminal's name confirmed Serifys' that this had something to do with him. He picked up the pace, until he was just on the other side of the bookcase.

   He found a gap in the books and peered through to watch what was going on. Three people stood solemnly, conversing quietly about what appeared to be a serious matter.

   Serifys' gaze swept the group, taking in each person's features. All of them wore hooded capes, though their heads were uncovered as of the moment. Their tunics were short, like those that travelers and traders wore. There was a white blonde girl, who appeared to be around Serifys' age. Her expression was fierce, and as she shifted, light caught her face and the paleness of her blue eyes revealed her to be Candor. Next to her stood a woman with long, braided dark brown hair, who looked to be slightly older than Serifys' mother. Authority was obvious in the way she held herself and her bright blue eyes flashed as she spoke to the third member of the group, a tall man who seemed to be somewhere between the woman and the girl's ages. His hair was a rich blonde, and his eyes a dark brown that almost melded into black.

   "We've got to leave Fenix," the woman said, her tone saying that this was an order, not a suggestion. "We've got no other choice."

   The girl spoke up in response. "But we can't have everybody in Fenix die. There are good people here, and-"

   "Jennalin is correct, Roedan." The man glanced at the woman, presumably Jennalin, before turning back to the girl, Roedan. "Fenix will need to be sacrificed. There's nothing we can do about it. Satorus will come here, and we will need to take away the answer that he is looking for. He will grow angry, and people will have to die." His tone was somber, and one could easily tell that he did not like the truth that he was stating.

   Serifys watched on, apprehension growing inside of him. Fenix would be destroyed because of Satorus? What were these people talking about?

   The girl, Roedan, opened her mouth to retort, but Jennalin cut her off. "What Mercator says is true, Roedan. There's nothing we can do about this. We need to find the Fire Rose before Satorus does, and we need to take it far far away - out of the regions."

   Out of the regions to the lands beyond? What was this woman thinking? Nobody to went to the lands beyond came back to the regions.

   Another thought struck Serifys and he grew scared. These people wanted to take the Fire Rose away. If they did, then Satorus would destroy Fenix. That couldn't happen. That was unacceptable.

   "The library is closing," came a voice suddenly, and Serifys flinched in surprise, and he saw Roedan do the same. A pale brown piece of parchment fluttered out of her hand. It was the librarian's voice. He couldn't see the man, but he could hear him at the end of the bookcase.

   "Unfortunately, you'll now have to leave. You are free to come back tomorrow once we reopen."

   Serifys dropped to his knees and stuck a hand underneath the bookcase. He started to grope around, and soon, he felt leathery parchment under his skin and pulled out the paper. He got up once again to see that Roedan had fallen to her knees too, but she'd been too late. Serifys already had it.

   "You'll need to leave," the librarian repeated, a slight note of irritation entering his voice.

    "Yes, we will, I just dropped something, and as soon as I find it-" Roedan began, but she was cut off by the librarian.

   "We need to close now. You may come back once morn arrives to search for it, seeing as not many people come into the Restricted section anyhow and it will most likely not be disturbed."

   Roedan rose to her feet, worry creeping onto her face. The three of them began to walk forwards to the librarian, and Serifys heard her mutter to Jennalin, "The map."

   Jennalin responded, "It won't be an issue."

   Serifys stuffed the parchment into his satchel and began to walk to the end of the shelf. He needed to get to the back before the librarian arrived.

   Finally, he got there, and he walked from there to the border of the Restricted section using a pathway different from athe one that the three people from earlier had taken.

   He slipped out of the Restricted section and made his way to the doors. He walked out and began to head to the street that would take him back home.

   Serifys turned his head to see Jennalin and the other two walk out of the library just as he turned the corner.

   His heart beat fast as he clenched the parchment in the pocket of his tunic tightly.

   Something big was happening, and Serifys needed to find out what it was.

———

   Serifys slammed the door shut and Jermyn looked up from the wood in his hands. "Serifys? What-"

   "Jermyn. I've got to tell you something."

    His face morphed into an expression of curiosity as he set aside the small knife and deer that he'd been whittling. "What happened?"

    Serifys dropped onto the bed next to Jermyn, who sat in a chair. He pulled the strap of his satchel over his head and unclasped the flap. He turned it over above the bed, and the contents spilled out.

   Serifys' eyes were immediately drawn to the weathered piece of parchment and he reached out for it, wrapping his fingers around it and bringing it to his other hand.

   "Serifys, what is going on?" Jermyn asked.

   "The Fire Rose." Serifys looked up into Jermyn's eyes, his own gaze serious. "I went to the library, Jermyn, because I wanted to know what this Fire Rose, the thing Satorus is looking for, is. I couldn't find anything in the normal section, so I went into the Restricted section. I overheard these three people talking about the Fire Rose. They know where it is, Jermyn. And they want to take it away, out of all the regions, even though they say at the same time that Fenix will be destroyed if they do so."

   "What?" Jermyn asked, aghast. "How could they want to let such a thing happen?"

   "I don't know," Serifys said. "They were talking about this and then the librarian came and startled them so one of them dropped this parchment. I went under the shelf and snatched it before she could. They tried to look for it, but the librarian made them leave because the library was closing. I managed to get out without them seeing me."

   Serifys stretched out his palm in front of him. The parchment lay flat and folded on it, and both of the brothers' gazes were drawn to it.

   "What does it say?" Jermyn asked, reaching out to take it.

   Serifys swatted his hand away. "I don't know yet. But I'm going to find out right now." He began to unfold the parchment, smoothing his fingers along the creases, and he spread the parchment out on the bed in front of him.

   It was a map, a map of a city. Serifys trailed his fingers over the lines that defined the territory, the city walls, the Scaena. "Where-"

   "Vesper," Jermyn interrupted, pointing at a faded word in the top left corner of the parchment that Serifys had missed. The words "Fire Rose" looped across the entire map, faded under the lines of the city. They shared a glance.

   "It's in Vesper. The Fire Rose," Serifys said slowly.

   Jermyn gaze grew alight with excitement. "Someone needs to bring it here and let Satorus have the blasted thing so he'll leave us all alone."

   Serifys' gaze connected with his. "And it might as well be us."

   Jermyn glanced across the room to the window. "It's getting late. Let's talk about this again once morn rises."

   "Alright then." Serifys carefully folded the parchment once more. He got up and walked to the drawer by the bed. He squatted down and lifted a corner of it, slipping the paper down below and then letting the drawer drop down.

   Jermyn raised an idea. "You know, anybody could find that if they were looking for it."

   "Doubt anybody's going to be looking for it here." Serifys dusted off his hands and rose to his feet. He sat down again and began to rearrange the things in his satchel back inside it again.

   "Just stuff them in, Serifys."

   "No."

   Jermyn yawned. "You're too organized. I'm off to sleep." He got off of his stool and made his way to his cot on the other side of the room, falling into it backwards. "Get the lantern."

   Serifys shook his head as he once again clasped his satchel and got up. He went to the lantern hanging from a hook that protruded from the wall and twisted the small, round rod that regulated the lantern's light, turning it almost all the way to the left. The light dimmed until it was nothing more than a soft yellow glow, and Serifys went back to his own cot, letting his satchel drop by the side of the bed and falling back into it, not bothering to change his clothing. 

   Today had been a tiring day, but at least now he knew more about the Fire Rose. Curiosity  sparked inside of him as he contemplated the reasons for what this object could be - what could be something so great that a great criminal would destroy an entire city for?

   A yawn escaped his mouth, and he drew a blanket across his shoulders. The questions would have to wait until morn came.

   Serifys was awoken the next morning to loud voices outside the window. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, letting out a yawn. What was the ruckus?

   He made his way to the window, the voices becoming more clear to him as he got closer. Eventually, he got there and looked out, squinting his eyes against the glare of the sun.

   A man's cry reached his ears, and instantly, Serifys was awake.

   "Satorus has come! Satorus has come to Fenix!"