Mirai

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I had heard a lot of stories about the Library and they all described the outside as looking ugly and on the verge of collapsing. On the verge of collapsing, I could agree upon, but ugly, absolutely not. It was wooden and looked a bit patched up with some planks inter-lapping as if they covered holes. But it only made it look fragile, like something that needed to be cared for and protected.

The insides were vastly different, though, and I liked them less. The stone walls reminded me too much of the Maze, though they were lit up with candelabras.

As I walked to the front, the Librarian had her back to me. But I didn't need her to turn to know who she looked like. I had seen that back enough times by now, though I did note that the mark wasn't on her shoulder.

The Librarian turned and had a soft smile on her lips as she looked at me with those round brown eyes. It was Tamah's smile and Tamah's eyes.

"Mirai, how wonderful to meet you," she said, and Tamah's melodious voice rang in my ears. It all made me sad, though. Because it wasn't Tamah in front of me. But soon it would be. I was so close to her, I knew it. There was just that one last piece of the puzzle.

"I want to know where Lamia was last seen," I got straight to the point.

"But of course. Through here." She indicated the door behind her.

I walked through the opening in the counter and then through the door. The room on the other side was cold and damp. There the stone didn't just remind me of the Maze, but it seemed to be the same place. Or maybe it was the same as the cell Tamah was locked up in.

In the room, one book lay on a table that was rather the stone going up from the earth in the shape of a table. Next to the table was a chair that was formed the same way. I took the book, settled into the chair, and started flipping through the pages.

I realized quite quickly that this information wouldn't do. The book described different sightings that could have been Lamia, but they also maybe weren't. The sightings were all spread out over the whole earth though, and since it was impossible to know which were genuine, I couldn't pin down her location at all.

I sighed and put the book back before exiting the room.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" the Librarian said as I came out.

"No. As if you don't know that already," I muttered and then took a deep breath to figure out what to do next. I ran a hand through my hair and moved it to the side. Then decided on a very straight-to-the-point question. "Where is Tamah? Or well Lamia?"

"I cannot divulge that information," the Librarian answered without missing a beat.

"But you do know?"

"Yes."

"So why can't you just tell me?"

"I cannot give personal information that could threaten a person's privacy."

"But she's my mate!" I exclaimed. "I'm only asking to help her."

"The motivation behind the question matters not."

I rolled my eyes and started pacing to think of what else to ask. My mind was blank, though. I knew nothing of the place she was held that could help find the answer.

"Can't you just make one exception?" I asked the Librarian, but I already knew she would shake her head before the question was finished.

"No."

"You are infuriating! Do you know that? Everyone always told me you were, but you really are. What good are you if you can never give proper answers?"

There was a moment of silence. The Librarian pursed her lips, almost as if she was annoyed. But she had no right to be annoyed. She was the annoying one.

"I can only give knowledge about the ways of the world as answers to questions," she broke the silence. "There might be other information that can be useful for you. But you need to ask the right question."

I wanted to roll my eyes at the nonsensical answer. It was ridiculous and less helpful than any of the previous ones. She wasn't giving knowledge, only confusion. And there definitely wasn't any other information than information about where Tamah was that I was interested in. Nothing else mattered except finding her. I needed to find a way. But I had no idea where else I could find the answer than here in the Library. Of course, I hadn't even tried scrying for her or anything like that, but I knew that wouldn't work. Whatever place she was held in had to be protected, so no normal method for finding a person would work.

Method...

"What different methods could I use to find a person?" I asked the Librarian and then watched as she turned to the door, placed her hand on it for a few seconds, and then turned back.

"You will find the answer on the other side," she said.

I stepped forward and through the door again.

The room had changed a lot. To some extent, to the opposite of what it had been. A fireplace sparked. There were several couches with accompanying cushions and blankets. Bookshelves, a lot of them, and some overflowing, so the books stood on the floor next to it as well. After a look around the room, I noticed the bookshelves stood in clearly divided sections. There would be three bookshelves in a row, but then a couch would come before the next one and so on. There was no sign to indicate what the different sections were, though, so I walked around and looked.

The first shelf I went to was one that stood on its own and that held only a handful of books. I figured it would be easy to understand if that one had a specific theme from the books. It did. They were all books on scrying.

I walked to the next section. That one had two bookshelves and a pile of books on the floor. It took me longer to understand what that section was, but after having pulled out the tenth book, I got it. Summoning spells.

I went on and checked more. A section on stars and planets came next. One of different types of potions. Another regarding blood magic. A section about mates. And the last one I looked at was about sight.

As I looked at that shelf, the answer to how to find Tamah felt ridiculously obvious, but also impossibly hard. I didn't read any of the books, though. I was sure that most that stood there were things I had been told over and over while growing up. So I turned to exit again and voice the frustration I felt.