RACHEL ROTH

Zach felt the same way he did when he was standing just behind a curtain waiting to step out on stage. It was a mix of jittery excitement and wanting to bolt for the nearest toilet to hide in. She’d like it right? She had to, after all she’d liked everything else. Zach was no bibliophile but even he’d liked the look of this corridor, but maybe that was because books weren’t his thing? Oh crap. He felt a squeeze on his hand and it brought him out of his mind, to look at Rachel and see she appeared a little nervous herself. He wasn’t sure why but then actually helped to calm him down. “I know,” he said quietly, “It’s like they built it just for the sun to shine through.”  

“O-oh…” he paused a moment thinking about that, “I uhh, well I might have one or two of those.” More like a whole damn army but he wasn’t keen to face any of those right now. “I’d rather fight of the Phantasm again.” He muttered, “But yea, that was quite the trick.”

He smiled once more as they continued to explore the library; while he wasn’t thinking about the stories that might have been told he was wondering about the history of the place, more often than not areas of academia were never without some kind of conflict in the past.    

It was a damn impressive building though, he could catch the patterns and wondered if they meant anything or if they were just what seemed grandest at the time, they soon reached the door and Zach stifled a grin, he knew how impressive the corridor was but didn’t wanna seem bragging.

“Well, after you.” He gestured a little with his free hand, “I think this is the best corridor in the place, if I do say so myself.”

Zach was happy to follow along, it was his first time visiting the place too and he did think it was a beautiful building, but it wasn’t blowing him away the way it did Rachel. So he occupied himself with watching her rather than the grand library. For now anyway, it didn’t seem as though she’d mind.

There was one thing about the library he loved though: they were alone. No hero buddies looking for help or wild fans begging for his attention. It was quiet, and that was nice… No, it was perfect.

“Yea, I guess so.” he grinned, if he did need a magnifying glass he could always magic one up, that wouldn’t be hard. “Uhh, take the next left and it should be able half-way down the next hallway.” he told her, “The one with the big windows,” if the photos were right, “The light should be hitting it just right about now.”

“Hmm?” he stopped when she turned to look at him, blinking a few times under her gaze, “Well uhh, maybe I mean I haven’t exactly fought any demons in my time, but Eddie and I ended up in New Azarath once and nearly got eaten by the Phantasm…” The real meaning of her words going completely over his head, “Don’t know if he was a demon though.”

"So make it a metaphor.” She shrugged once, her eyes still on him. “Don’t fight off an actual demon... but one of your own.” If she’d learned anything about people, is that they all had something, no matter how good they were at hiding it. “Though anything out of  Azarath counts.”

With a nod Rachel followed Zach’s instructions, making her way past the small, study room, maybe? Isles of seats and tables filled it to the end. Silently she imagined all the stories that were read here, all of the ones that were made. The quiet making for the perfect soundtrack. 

The walls were magnificent, filled with patterns Rachel had yet to see before, she had to stop herself from reaching out to trace the shapes. Yet, it was hard for her to keep even that little bit of composure. The library was perfect and they hadn’t even made it to the end yet.

It had been a long time since that was all he’d had to worry about.

He flexed his grip on her hand just a little, still worried he might start sweating and lengthened his strides to match her own, it was almost funny how excited she was; Zach smiled but he didn’t laugh. “I dunno, I saw a photo and things still looked pretty readable, for whatever language it was written in.”

“Demons? Cool!” In the old legend sense anyway, “Maybe it’ll be a heroic story about a guy fighting off monsters.” Cause ancient religious scroll or not he was still a guy and guys liked things that involved fighting monsters.

Quickly, Rachel lead the way through the doors, then another, as if she had somehow figured out which way to go. Inside was absolutely breathtaking, she wanted nothing more than to spend her seconds memorizing every detail of it all— but she worried they wouldn’t have enough time.

Time. That always seemed to be the greatest factor in her life. Rachel was constantly afraid her’s was slipping away, at a level out of her control. With Zach, at the library, that was lost.

“Cool.” Was all she had been able to mumble in response. He’d mentioned he could translate the scrolls but the last thing they’d need was to stop by and get Zach a pair of glasses when they left. Rachel paused for a moment, her eyes scanning the walls around them. “Is this the right way?”