The Library (Episode 2)

Seth is inducted into the Imagi order and prepares the journey ahead.

Light shined, blinding Seth as he felt wind rushing at him. The light dimmed. He opened his eyes. he stood on a Balcony overlooking a humongous library. Wind rushed behind him. he turned and saw Anali come through the mirror behind him. The mirror stopped rippling. Anali opened her eyes, she was back in her cloak. She cmiled and said,“Welcome to the Great Library of the Imagi.”

“The Imagi?” Seth asked.

“It’s a fusion of Magi and imagination. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

“I guess.”

“Come on. There’s someone you need to see.”

Seth followed Anali down a flight of stairs into the main part of the Library. People in cloaks like Anali’s sat all over reading, playing card games, and other activities. As Seth passed by, people gave him looks ranging from curiosity to disgust. Seth just sttempted to avoid eye contact. Not only did people roam about, but also animals. Seth saw all kinds of animals, both mythical and of our world. Dragons, griffins, unicorns, pegasus, wolves, bears, snakes: You name it and it was probably there. Seth heard a low growl behind him and turned around to see a cheetah staring up at him. “Uh, Anali?”

“What?” Anali said, turning. Upon seeing the cheetah, she smiled. “Blaze! Hey there, girl!” Anali knelt and hugged the cheetah. In return, the cheetah rubbed its head against Anali’s cheek.

Seth stood back, still not quite trusting the cheetah. “The cheetah is your pet?"
 "Blaze?” Anali said indicating the cheetah. “No. She’s my friend. Unlike the animals in your world, the animals here can communicate with those whom they have a strong bond with.’

"They actually talk?”

“No, it’s telepathic.”

“Oh.”

“If you ever find one that you bond with, you’ll understand.”

‘Whatever.“

"Anyways we need to get going. I hope he hasn’t gone to bed yet.”

They continued across the Library to a corridor adjacent to where they had entered. They walked down the hallway, making turns here and there. They came to a door at the end of the hallway, and Anali knocked. She stepped back and waited. After a few short moments, an old man opened the door. He wore a silver cloak which shined in the lights from the hallway. He had a long white beard that came to the center of his chest and long white hair. He smiled. “Ah, Anali. It is very good to see you as always.” Looking towards Seth, he asked,“Who is your friend, and why is he dressed in such strange attire?”

“It could be a long story.” Anali said.

“Well then, come in, please!” The man said.

“Thank you” Anali said.

“Uh, thanks.” Seth said. He followed Anali in, hands in his pockets.

The man showed them a table in the room. Anali sat down and Seth followed suit. The man went to a fireplace and retrieved a tea pot. He placed it on a wooden heat pad that materialized on the table. While Seth’s eyes were still wide, plates and cups appeared on the table. Looking at the man, Seth noticed the glowing purple gem on the ring on his finger. He then sat down. He poured the tea. Seth, though he did not like tea, thanked the man anyways so as to avoid being impolite.

“Now then,” the man began as he put the tea back on the hot pad,“ First things first. Anali, would you please introduce your friend?”

“Mastrivis, this is Seth. Seth, Mastrivis,” Anali said, gesturing to each one in turn.

“It is very nice to meet you, Seth,” Mastrivis said, nodding to Seth.

“Same to you, sir.”

“Now where did you meet this young lad?” Mastivis asked before taking a sip of his tea.

“Earth.” Anali said.

Mastrivis choked on his tea, He eventually managed to swallow his tea before asking,“I am sorry. Did you say earth?”

“Yes. I was also surprised.”

“But how did you get there my dear girl?”

“My gem notified me of a magical anomaly which I followed, appearing on earth.”

“And what was this anomaly?”

Anali pulled out the blue gem from her cloak. Mastrivis gasped when he saw the gem. “It cannot be!"


 "It is.”

“How did you find it?”

“Seth had it with him when i found him.”

Mastrivis turned to Seth. “Where did you find this?”

“It was buried in a family friend’s yard,” Seth answered. Then he realized,“Wait, we’re not on earth?”

“No of course not! To most people, earth is just a myth.” Mastrivis responded.

“I can confirm that it is not. But, if we’re not on earth, then where are we?”

“Cepernan.”

“What is Cepernan?”

“It is the world we are currently in. Our country is Amchebekem.”

“Ok.” Seth said confused.

“What is the name of your 'family friend’?”, Mastrivis asked.

“Mrs. Judy Finmore.” Seth said, recalling her name with slight hesitation.

“Did she say that this belonged to her?”

“No, she said it belonged to her husband, uh, Rick I think his name was.” Mastrivis and Anali exchanged a look. Confused, Seth asked,“Did I miss something?”

“Nothing that you should have known about.” Mastrivis said.

“So, care to explain please?” Seth was completely lost and was too tired to deal with all of this.

“Rick, as you knew him, was not actually from your world. In fact, his name was not even actually Rick. His name was Reconus.

"Reconus was an Imagi knight, on the brink of reaching the level of master. He’d been training since he was fourteen. He had advanced through the ranks, almost becoming the fastest to achieve the fifth rank of the Imagi. He was always one of the highest in his class.  Then something unexpected happened. The map holder for Sampasa’s hour glass disappeared. The map then appeared with Reconus. He was twenty two at the time, busy reading in fact. He first came to me, and after realizing what happened, I took him to the high council to determine what to do. They decided that considering that we still did not know what had happened to the last map holder that it would be better if he was sent somewhere for safety. We realized that if we could do it, sending him to earth would be the safest place he could go.”

“What is Sampasa’s hour glass?”

“Sampasa’s hour glass is the object that holds all magic in this world. One Imagi always holds the secret to the location of the Hour Glass and has unlimited magic as a result.”

“The flow gem thingies can runn out of magic?”

“Yes, but they recharge by themselves given enough time. But Recounus’s wasgifted by the Secret of the Hour Glass. Therefore, would never run down. That is where they problem lies.”

“What problem?”

“Though sending Reconus to earth should have kept him safe, he managed to get himself into trouble. He often told me about the absurd actions he was performing. Eventually it all caught up to him. The constant use of magic caused a great amount of magic to flow from this world, opening up earth to anyone who knew how to open a portal.

"Before I go on, I believe that it is best I inform you of a small yet significant fact about the Flow Gem.”

“Ok.” Seth said. All of this information was to much to much to process at once. He took a sip of his tea to give himself some more time to process it all. “Go on.”

“When an Imagi is expelled from the order or dies, usually his Flow Gem shatters. When the Flow Gem of the Imagi who previously held the secret of the Hour Glass shatters, the secret is then passed on to the next person. But a Flow Gem only shatters when it is with its owner.”

“Hold on, let me guess. Reconus didn’t have his gem with him when he died.”

“It is apparent by it’s presence here that it was not.”

Seth slouched down in his chair. “Well then this is hopeless.”

“I don’t think so,” Anali spoke up. “While I would never trust Ceffelon with anything I valued, any information he gives is correct. There has to be a way to do this.”

“Anali is correct,” Mastrivis said. “But at the moment we need to inform the council about this. Wenford.”
An owl flew through a mirror hanging on the wall, surprising Seth. It landed by Mastrivis. “Summon the council immediately.” The owl nodded and left through the mirror.

Mastrivis stood. “Now then, Seth, you will very likely be required to appear before the council and recount how you came upon the gem. Therefore we should hasten towards the council room.” Mastrivis began towards the door and Anali and Seth followed.

Within minutes, they had arrived in the lobby for the Council Chamber. The room was ornately decorated with a red rug covering most of the floor. Large golden vases stood atop wooden pedestals. Greenery spilled over the edges of the vases. The soft light reflected off the polished metal ceiling. All this denied the somberness of what happened on these halls.

Mastrivis immediately walked in when they arrived. Anali sat in one of the chairs beside the large double doors that served as entrance to the Council Chamber. Seth paced, worried about a variety of things: Lily, the Hour Glass, the Council meeting.

Anali, after watching Seth pace for a few minutes, said,“Sit down. Pacing isn’t going to change anything.”

“I know, but I’m worried about everything going on.” Seth said, continuing his pacing.

“Worrying won’t do anything either. All that your pacing is going to do is wear a hole in the rug. You would not believe how many times that thing has needed replacing.”

Seth stopped. He waited, eventually sitting in the chair beside Anali. He sighed and said,“ So let me get this straight. The man I’ve know for years as Rick Finmore is actually named Reconus, came from this magical world, Cepernan, knew the location of the most powerful magic of all time, and probably was killed because of that.”
Anali gazed upward thinking. “Yeah, that about sums it up.”

Seth rubbed his eyes. He needed to get home and to bed. “I’m dead tired.” Seth commented. “As soon as they are done, I so want to get home.”

“Are you serious?” Anali asked.

“Um, yeah.” Seth said, leaning over to rest his elbows on his knees.

“Well, uh, there might be a slight problem.”

Seth bolted up. “Say what now?”

“It was hard enough for me to get into your world when I had a magic source to lock onto. Trying to do it without a magic source would make things even harder, if not impossible.”

Seth’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “You’re saying I literally can’t go home again?”

“It’s very unlikely.”

“Great. Just another thing to worry about.”

At that moment, Mastrivis came out. “They are ready for you Seth.”

Seth rose and Matrivis took his seat. As Seth walked in, the guard closed the door behind him. He faced toward the front of the room. Wooden pews lined the aisle he walked. He went beyond a wall dividing the pews from the front of the room. He stopped in front of eleven throne like chairs. He waited, feeling like a criminal in front of a judge, or in this case, judges.

The men on the thrones each wore golden robes. On each of their heads rested a crown. The one in the center spoke. “You are Seth?”

“Yes, sir,” Seth answered.

“We have been told by Master Mastrivis about your incidents with the Flow Gem of Reconus. Would you please inform us of your version of the proceedings?”

Seth recounted his adventure, starting from when he first discovered the flow gem up until he passed through the mirror into this world. After he finished, the council members looked at each other solemnly. Again, the middle one spoke.

“Recently our scholars discovered a prophecy…”

Was there always some sort of prophecy? Seth wondered.

“Saying that on the sixteenth birthday of a child of earth, he would be required to use Sampasa’s Hour Glass to save all the kingdoms of both his world and ours, though his reasons for doing so would be his own. The sign of his coming would be his using of the previous Keeper’s Flow Gem. Based on your accout, we believe that this prophecy refers to you. What is your age?”

“Fifteen.”

“And how long until your sixteenth birthday?”

“My birthday is September fifth, so about three months.”

The eyes of all the council members widened. “Well then, there isn’t much time. Seth, to wield Sampasa’s Hour Glass, you would need some understanding of magic. We ask if you are willing to become part of our order to be trained. This training would be rigorous and take up nearly all of your time. This offer should not be taken lightly. Most people would have been training their minds for years to even have a chance at becoming a part of our order. Will you accept?”

Seth thought over the offer. If he accepted he would be able to save Lily, but he would have to keep it a secret from everyone he knew. In addition, if he ever found a way home, he would likely be called back here. Would it all be worth it? Then he thought, does it really matter if it is worth it? What right did he have to put his life ahead of Lily’s and apparently the worlds’? He finally made his decision. “Yes. I accept,” Seth said.

“Very well. It is time to form your Flow Gem. Close your eyes and picture it.”

Seth obeyed. He thought of Lily and the pendant. Her birthstone was emerald. He combined the two images in his head. This is for you, Lilly, he thought.

The counselors all stood. They faced toward Seth, holding their hands up toward him. Their Flow Gems glowed and magic streamed towards a point above Seth’s head. The beams of magic slowly reformed into a pendant of light, getting more detailed every second. It lowered around Seth’s neck. Suddenly the light exploded, hiding Seth. The light faded and Seth was in an Imagi robe. The Flow Gem he had pictured hung around his neck.
“Rise and open your eyes.”

Seth stood, looking at his robe and Flow Gem. He wondered why his robe was white instead of green to match his Flow Gem.

As if reading his mind, the middle counselor said,“The color of your robe denotes your rank. You are white, indicating this is your first year. From there the ranks are novice one in blue, novice two in green, novice three in purple, knight in training in black, apprentice knight in red, knight in brown, knight master in orange, and knight commander in yellow. Silver is the rank master, but very few ever achieve that.

So did Japan get the color thing from them or did they get it from Japan? Seth wondered.

"Your training will begin tomorrow. Though usually students spend their first year in the academy, you will be trained in a more advanced method. Mastrivis will find you tomorrow morning after breakfast and begin your training. For tonight, I would suggest you get well rested in your dorm but you could also go to the main library.”

"Yes, sir,“ Seth said.

"You are dismissed.” Seth turned and left.

Outside, Anali and Mastrivis were waiting. Anali saw the pendant hanging from around Seth’s neck and said,“So, you’re an Imagi now.”

“Yep.” Seth said. He wondered how much he was going to regret this decision.

“You start training tomorrow?”

“Yeah, but I’m not really sure when. He said after breakfast so whenever that is.”

“Goes for three hours immediately after sunrise. So do you want to go to the library?”

“Nah. I’m beat. Where are the dorms?”

“Follow me. The dorm master will help you get to yours.”

"Great. Let’s go.“ Anali led Seth back into the main library. From there, they went down a hallway similar to the one Mastrivis’s room was in. At the end of the hallway there was a man sitting behind a table with a book on it. He looked up as they approached. "Hello, Anali. How are you doing?”

“Pretty well. This guy needs to get to his room.”

“I didn’t know of any initiations that happened today.”

“He was just initiated a few minutes ago.”

“Oh, then, welcome! I’m dorm master Keldo.”

“I’m Seth.”

“Nice to meet you. Where are you from?”

“Uh…”

“Long story,” Anali interrupted. “Some other time.”

“Well then, let’s find your room.” Keldo looked through the book. “Here you are. Room 131.” Keldo rose and began walking. Seth and Anali followed behind him. Doors lined both sides of the hall. They stopped in front of door 131. Keldo gestured for Seth to go in. Seth opened the door.

Inside were two beds, one on either side of the door. The one to the right was already taken, as evidenced by various trinkets scattered all over it. Seth nodded, wishing he could see more from just the hall light. “So how do you  turn on the lights?”

“Uh,” Keldo hesitated, confused,“you just think them on.”

Seth did and torches in the corners of the rooms flamed to life. Seth could see even more things scattered on the room’s floor. Seth walked in. He saw against the wall farther in  the room, two desks and two wardrobes. After viewing the room, he turned around and said,“Cool. Well I guess see you in the morning, Anali?"
 "Probably. Good night.”

“Night.” Seth closed the door as Anali and Master Keldo left.

Author's Note

This one I know needs a lot of editing. Any comments are appreciated.