Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Luz and Hunter had a week of summer vacation left until Luz had to return to school and they would end up spending not as much time together as they’d liked. Hunter was not looking forward to it, but he didn’t want to risk getting Luz in trouble by attempting to sneak into her classes. He briefly thought about enrolling but, despite Camila’s alarming willingness to forge false documents, he didn’t want people to start asking questions about the new boy that popped out of nowhere and that knew an alarming amount about espionage and combat. Plus, there was the matter that he never actually attended a school before. He used to be home schooled by a series of tutors at his uncle’s home in between missions and training. Pep rallies, project presentations, and school dances were concepts completely foreign to him and he didn’t feel like he would acclimate smoothly. Luz wasn’t looking forward to the impending change either. Her and Hunter had really bonded over the last few months to the point where she would even call him her best friend. Well, also her only friend. She and the staff from her mom’s work, Wilson’s Wildlife Solutions, got along well enough, but they didn’t exactly hang out or see each other after work. She also wasn’t exactly popular at school, being avoided by students and being known as the girl who set snakes out in the halls that one time and the one who occasionally has roadkill in her backpack. The weirdo. The outcast. So going back to that lonely place without her best friend for about a third of the day, five days a week, made her feel uneasy and absolutely full of dread. 

The two had spent the first day of their last week trying to figure out what they should do to really end the summer off with a bang. The two sat in Luz’s room, Hunter laying on her bed playing Stardew Valley on her Switch trying to mine as much iridium ore as humanly possible before collapsing at 2:00 am and Luz on her PC replaying Chapter 2 of Deltarune for what felt like the hundredth time. 

“Supernatural marathon?” Luz said after sighing in frustration at her failed tenth attempt to beat Spamton NEO.

“If I have to watch season 7 again, I’m setting the house on fire with all of us in it. Ghost hunting?”

“I don’t want to talk to ghosts that were alive when women weren’t allowed to wear pants again. Laser tag?”

“We’re banned from laser tag, remember?”

Luz remembered how Hunter put his soldier training to use and, while he was efficient at shooting his targets, he went a little overboard and started flipping people over his shoulder, pinning them to walls, and putting them into choke holds. He felt bad for ruining their evening, but Luz had assured him that he didn’t ruin anything and that seeing him duel wielding laser pistols was cool to see.

She glanced at her stack of books from the Wanderer’s Library with a small booklet of the type of entities and locations that could be encountered in the Library catching her eye. Library staff had started giving these booklets out to patrons as a way to better familiarize themselves with the Library. Luz grabbed the booklet and flipped through random pages for inspiration.

“Ooh! How about this?”

She leaped off her seat and onto the bed, landing near Hunter’s socks that had paw prints at the bottom. 

“You know how there are lantern koi at the Wanderer’s Library?”

“Yeah, but we’ve already seen them.”

“Ah! But we’ve only seen schools that had one color. There’s apparently a school of lantern koi that has multiple colors hidden in the deepest parts of the library. It’s called the Dazzling Rainbow and only a few people have actually seen it. We could be one of those people!”

“You want to go cryptid hunting for a living rainbow?”

“Yeah! A single colored school of lantern koi was amazing to look at. Imagine how amazing a rainbow school will be. Now that would be a great way to end the summer.”

Hunter couldn’t lie and say she was wrong. The first time they saw a school of lantern koi was magical. Seeing them swim through the air and glow like a warm orange like a sunset made him feel warm and fuzzy. He felt like a little kid seeing fireworks for the first time. It was a sense of wonder he rarely got to feel.

“I guess it would be cool to see and, even if we didn’t find it, exploring more parts of the Library would be pretty interesting.”

“Then it’s decided! First thing in the morning, we go rainbow hunting! Get ready for the best day of your life!”

He smiled. He always loved how optimistic Luz was. Even if his mood was mostly sour, Luz had enough sweetness for the both of them.

…

Ways, or portals, always had odd placements. Sometimes they made sense, being found through a doorway or window. Others could be found in paintings, open spaces of air, or manholes. They could either be made artificially by strong thaumaturges or they could be formed naturally at complete random. The reason there weren’t an absurdly large number of people accidentally falling into these Ways was because of something called a Knock which are special requirements or actions that need to be in place or enacted near the Way for it to open. This can range from literally knocking in a specific way to giving away memories to reciting the Gettysburg Address. 

The specific Way that Luz would usually use was in a very convenient location for her, being located practically in her backyard in the Gravesfield Forest. The Way was in a tree with a thick trunk, crooked branches, and dark bark that made it look like it crawled out of Sleepy Hollow. The tree’s appearance dissuaded most people, but Luz Noceda was not like most people. She always saw the beauty in anything dark or morbid.

The Knock needed to open it was something that Luz kept close to her chest, not even telling Hunter. Whenever they went to the Library, she’d always ask for him to cover his ears when she opened the Way. Hunter always found it odd, but he obliged every time. Sometimes he would have a rogue thought that Luz, despite knowing each other and living together for months, still didn’t trust him. He’d shake his head to get rid of the thought and told himself that he was being ridiculous. Of course Luz trusted him. They’re friends. They eat breakfast together. They play video games together. They even, embarrassingly, sleep in the same bed together when Hunter has the occasional nightmare. But that didn’t mean they had to tell the other about anything sensitive if they didn't want to. Luz had a right to keep things private. 

After Luz performed the Knock, the trunk of the unsettling tree began to bulge inward. The bark began to twist into a spiral that eventually turned into a mint green colored Way. It was a strangely soothing and satisfying thing to see. It felt so natural. 

Luz offered Hunter her hand and he accepted. They didn’t need to do this. Neither of them would’ve been displaced or lost as the Way was an instant route to the Library and Hunter had been through enough Ways to not feel disoriented at the sudden change of scenery. It just felt like the right thing to do. The two stepped through the portal hand-in-hand and as they did, the Way closed leaving the tree as it was before.

…

The Library was magnificent as always. An infinite boon of unlimited knowledge and stories welcomed by anyone willing to learn. Pages, multi-armed entities that were responsible for reshelving books, crawled along the shelves like spindly spiders occasionally helping Library patrons reach and find books they wanted. Docents, humanoids with no mouths and a lantern suspended by chains replacing their left hand, could be seen assisting patrons as guides to certain sections of the Library. And finally, the Archivists, creatures of varying shapes and sizes with no eyes, sat at the front desk assisting patrons by giving Library cards and doing record keeping. Two Archivists could be seen at the front desk. The first was a large, red, centipede-like creature with hands ending at each of its limbs that was in the process of vomiting up a Library card for a patron who had a look of disgust, yet also intrigue, on their face. The nameplate in front of the Archivist read: ROUNDERPEDE: CHIEF ARCHIVIST. The second Archivist, a giant, yellow octopus with purple splotches scattered all over its skin, could be seen typing on two keyboards connected to two computer terminals with two of their limbs while using others to write on pieces of parchment and another to sip coffee from its mug that definitely did not have any alcohol in it. A nameplate in front of the octopus read: MALAISE: ARCHIVIST.

The grand hall, the heart of the Library, was filled by scholars and students studying at the numerous wooden desks that were encased by large, translucent bubbles that blocked sound to focus on their work and studies. The grand hall was lit by chandeliers that hung from the incredibly tall ceiling that accommodated the incredibly tall shelves and seemingly endless number of floors above. The walls were covered in a forest green wallpaper that held intricate patterns of serpents that could occasionally be seen actually slithering on the wall. Portraits were seen hanging on the walls that displayed numerous images, some being Archivists of the Library, pictures of scholars in robes studying ancient texts, and what appeared to be a large serpent with horns hanging from the branches of a tree offering people something that appeared to be a type of fruit. One final portrait dwarfed the others, displaying the image of the large serpent from the previous portrait standing tall and proud, its eye staring out. Under the portrait was a plaque that had a sentence written in gold lettering. 

The Garden is the Serpent’s place.

The first time Hunter entered the Library it was completely disorienting. The never ending shelves and abundance of anomalous people just walking about was a lot to take in. He had heard stories of the Library during his Insurgency days. He knew of the group, The Serpent’s Hand, who utilized the Library as a home base of sorts, but knew they didn’t own the Library itself. The Hand never got along with the Insurgency, calling them by the flattering name of “The Madmen” for their violent and chaotic behaviors. It would make sense that a group dedicated to wanting to spread knowledge and letting harmless anomalies be free would be against a group that would seek to weaponize such knowledge and people. They even barred them from entry to the Library. Hunter was worried about this fact the first time he entered, warning Luz about how he might immediately be kicked out and banned. Luz had comforted the boy and said that he was no longer a part of that awful group and even if the Library wouldn’t let him in she would raise hell about it until they did. She demonstrated this by gently pushing a pencil holder and its contents off her desk and onto the ground. She had said that would only be one percent of her fury. Hunter laughed at his friend’s absolute destructive behavior and said that he appreciated it. 

“So, where do we start?” Hunter clapped his hands together as if to officially start their search.

“Well,” Luz took out the booklet in her backpack and flipped through it before landing on the desired page, “The Dazzling Rainbow is said to swim around the more darkly lit areas of the Library. Usually around the western to northwestern quadrants. So the less light, the better our chances. Let’s go ask a Docent.”

It took the two no time to find a Docent in the grand hall. They weren’t exactly hard to miss with their striking appearance. Luz was the one who went up to it. Hunter usually let Luz take charge with matters pertaining to the Library as she had far more experience in here then he did.

“Hello! Me and my friend are looking for somewhere in the Library that doesn’t have that much light. Preferably somewhere in the west sections. Could you help us find somewhere like that?”

The Docent slowly turned its head towards the girl and said… nothing because it didn’t have a mouth to speak so instead it gestured for Luz and Hunter to follow it, never lowering its red lantern. The two followed suit, passing by Library patrons and creatures that were common in the library. They saw a renallum, a fox-like creature with front legs that ended with dark hands carrying a book in its mouth probably given by a Page to deliver to a patron in exchange for a shiny trinket; a thaumaturge levitating a stack of books, a book mimic using its spindly legs to run away from a Docent pursuing it, two avian humanoids in robes discussing their travels throughout the multiverse and the most superior type of seeds to consume, and a canine-like creature with a long neck and gangly limbs wearing a white mask resembling a human’s face with empty eye sockets. The canine looked at the two and raised one of its front legs that ended with a hand to its face and did a shushing motion, unsettling the two. 

The group of three arrived at what looked like an old-fashioned elevator. They stepped inside and saw a keypad of numbers and letters. The Docent pressed on the keypad 567-A and up they went.

Chapter Text

The ascent took almost no time at all. Hunter assumed it was due to some type of thaumaturgy, or magic, being involved. Most likely utilizing a Way or some type of time dilation. When you're in an infinite, ever expanding library, quick travel is an absolute must. 

The elevator doors opened to something they did not expect. As the two stepped out, they were welcomed to a forest. Or, at least, something that mimicked a forest. Incredibly tall trees blanketed the land, their abundant leaves plumage almost completely blocking the sky. The air was a pleasant temperature that reminded Luz of the last part of spring before summer made things much too hot. The forest was dark, but not pitch black. That would be terrible for reading. It had a sort of cool blue tint to it. The kind that brought soothing comfort and relaxation. Fireflies could occasionally be seen blinking in and out within the brush. In front of them laid a dirt trail that spiraled and twisted into multiple directions, all marked with signs to prevent people from getting lost. The two were reminded that they were indeed still in a library and saw that some of the trees had shelves carved into their bodies with books neatly placed inside. Above them, they could see a series of rope bridges and walkways connecting to what looked like tree houses that the two assumed were rooms for study and/or relaxation. 

Luz exclaimed that this was the perfect place to start looking, a firefly landing on her nose and making her sneeze which Hunter thought was cute.

Luz turned to the Docent standing in the doorway to the elevator. “Thanks for your help!”

The Docent lifted up its right hand and gave a thumbs up before its attention turned to its red lantern that started to shine brighter than usual. A look of mild concern fell on its eyes and quickly went back into the elevator. The doors shut and the elevator descended.

“Wonder what that was about?” Hunter said, scratching his head in confusion. 

“It’s probably nothing to worry about. Probably just had to catch up on some Library business.”

He felt alright accepting that explanation and shrugged.

“Alright! Let’s get searching!” Luz said, taking out a pair of binoculars.

“You really came prepared.”

“Always!” she grinned.

And so they went off, exploring the forest of knowledge that laid before them. They scoured the forested area coming across abnormal plant life such as hanging moss that had ends that resembled the hands of Pages. Library patrons often used the moss to hold items for them to give them a free hand. Luz, for some reason, shook the “hand” of the moss and it closed around her. She attempted to let go and pull away from the plant, before accidentally ripping it off from where it was hanging. The hand let go and seized temporarily before falling inert similar to a dying spider. Luz sucked air in between her teeth and gave it a “Sorry” before wiping her hand on her shirt as if to wipe away her sins. 

Hunter came across a small clearing of golden flowers that seemed to sway. Hunter found this odd as he did not feel any wind. On closer inspection, Hunter discovered that the flowers themselves were animate and appeared to be dancing and singing a soothing song in an unknown language. He caught himself swaying along with the flowers before shaking his head to focus back on his search. 

They climbed the ladders that led to the rope bridges and tree houses, hoping to get a better view of their surroundings. They were amazed to see how far up the bridges and tree houses went and how utterly expansive the forest floor was. Luz used her binoculars to see what was in the distance to see that the Forest was blocked in by large, stone walls covered in moss. As she swung her binoculars, she got a close glimpse of the ground and received a shock at how far up they really were and how close she was to the guardrail. She suddenly felt dizzy and immediately leapt back a few feet. 

Hunter went to rest his hand on her shoulder to check if she was okay. The shock and dizziness wore off quickly and she gave a nod and a smile.

“Okay. Step 1: Watch where you're standing,” Hunter teased.

She playfully punched him in the shoulder and the two continued to walk the upper layers for better views. As they arrived at another walkway, three avian humanoids in robes passed by. Two were about average sized for a person while one was tiny enough to sit on the shoulder of one of the other two.

“Excuse us.” The three passed by the two and before Luz could fully acknowledge them, they casually stepped over the guardrail and walked off the edge. 

The two’s eyes went wide with panic and went to the edge to look down. It shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise when they saw the three bird people sprout wings and glide through the air to a lower walkway. Luz exclaimed how cool that was to see and Hunter felt a sudden ping of jealousy in his chest

Feeling the sudden need to impress her, Hunter called out to her, “Hey Luz! Check this out!” He ran and leapt off the edge of one of the walkways.

Luz screamed, “Hunter!” and went to the edge to see Hunter land and parkour off various rope bridges and trees, performing multiple backflips that Luz had to admit it looked impressive. It didn’t stop her heart from beating faster  every time he decided to leap off and luckily catching himself on a branch just to do it again. Eventually, he stopped his prideful performance and walked his way back up to Luz. He was out of breath and sweating through his shirt. Luz tried her hardest to avoid looking at it as it stuck to his skin and as she screamed at him for almost giving her a heart attack.

He chuckled. “Sorry. Just felt like showing off.”

Her face was red with anger and some other emotion she couldn’t place. Don’t look at his sweaty shirt, Luz. Ignore that you can see his muscles, she thought to herself. “Oh! I could smack you right now!”

“I’d probably dodge it. I’m quick on my feet as you could-.” He immediately tripped over his shoelaces and landed face first onto the hardwood floor.

Luz, of course, had Azura-themed bandaids with her and wasted no time applying them to the small gash Hunter had obtained on his forehead. Hunter, of course, felt embarrassed that his attempt at coolness and impressing Luz didn’t fully land. The pain from the face plant eased slightly when Luz did her magical act of kissing her index and middle fingers and placing them on the injury while giving a *Mhaw!* to punctuate the act and thus signaling the completion of the ritual. At least, Hunter assumed it was magical. How else could he explain that whenever the action was applied he felt a cocktail of positive emotions? Luz was a thaumaturge, or witch, in training so it would make sense for her to know some type of rudimentary healing spell. 

The two carried on with their search, speaking to patrons on if they’ve seen their elusive rainbow, all receiving shaking heads and resulting in sighs of frustration from the two. They did see the occasional stray lantern koi flying through the tree tops, but not an entire school and definitely not multicolored. The few they saw were mesmerizing though. The way they swam and maneuvered through the high up branches and rope bridges made the two feel a small sense of whimsy. They tailed a few koi to see if any swam back to a school, but it proved to be a fruitless endeavor. When everything felt hopeless, Luz created a spark of levity.

“Wait. I think I found something.” 

Luz pointed her binoculars towards Hunter who perked up at the idea of actually finding something after an hour and a half of searching.

“What is it?”

“It’s a blond nerd!”

He gave an unamused look and said, “That’s it. Your binoculars are getting chucked.”

Hunter approached Luz with his hands raised. Luz screamed, “Ah! It’s getting closer!” before Hunter lunged at her. 

Luz tried desperately to keep the binoculars as far away as possible from Hunter’s grasp. He chased her around the large tree shelves, almost bumping into other patrons. Luz giggled. Hunter tried to keep a serious face but couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from curving. Luz tripped and rolled into some large bushes at the edge of the path. Hunter became concerned at his friend being hurt and rushed over to the bushes.

“Luz? Are you okay?” he said, trying to peer through the bushes.

“H-Hunter…”

“Luz? Hang on, I’ll-.”

Luz’s hand shot out from the bushes and grabbed Hunter by his shirt, pulling him into the bushes with her. The two proceeded to roll on the forest floor, gathering leaves and sticks in their hair. She giggled manically.

“You fell into my trap!”

“You fell into those bushes on purpose?”

“Yep!” she lied. 

“I actually thought you were hurt.”

“Simply a ruse,” she lied, again. She had a bruise on her knee, but Hunter didn’t need to know that.

Hunter sighed, “Okay, okay. You got me.”

Hunter pulled a stick out of his hair and Luz shook her head of all the leaves that had taken refuge in hers. The two dusted themselves off and both sighed.

“So what now? Want to keep searching or do you wanna take a rest?”

She peered through her binoculars again to make sure they weren’t broken from the fall. She focused them onto something in the distance.

“What’s that?”

“Luz I’m not falling for that again.”

“No, really. What is that?”

Through her binoculars, Luz could see clusters of bright lights and people gathered in the distance. 

“What is it?”

She looked at him and smiled.

“Feeling hungry?”

…

The café looked like any average café you could find back home. It actually sort of stuck out like a sore thumb when surrounded by all the trees. Strings of fairy lights lit the area, reminding Luz of the fairy lights she used to hang in her room when she was little, so they brought upon a level of comfort and nostalgia for the girl. Hunter had decided this was the most peaceful and laid back floor in the Library. Coffee, a good book, and soothing atmosphere was a great combo and the other Library patrons seemingly agreed with him when he saw how packed the patio of tables were and how sizable the line was. The two decided that they deserved a break after their fruitless search for that sneaky school. The two got in line and passed the time listening to the chatter around them and also doing some people watching. Two men with what seemed to be clockwork parts integrated into their bodies were in the middle of a debate about the metaphorical vs literal interpretation of the ‘broken’ aspect of some machine deity, a woman with pale skin reading something on her phone that Hunter confirmed to be a review of something called Ambrose Transylvania by secretly peering over her shoulder, two humans talking about the rising rent in Three Portlands, and a group of teenagers discussing their upcoming semester at Deer College and how one of them was excited to take their Introduction to Basic Thaumaturgy and Alchemy 101 classes.

The line moved along fairly quickly and the two made their way to the counter. A tall man with four arms and two horns on the side of his head was behind the register in an apron and above him was a large menu of hundreds of drinks and food items. The Library saw patrons from all species and walks of life so it made sense they would have a very diverse menu. There were the usual items you could find in any café with standard coffees, mochas, teas, and pastries; but there were also very unique items on the menu as well. Fae Realm Nectar, Clown Milk Mocha, Human Blood (Regular or Diet), Strawberry “Lemonade”, Conceptual Blueberry Muffins, Bugloaf, Your Mother’s Chocolate Chip Cookies (No, Really), and Ectoplasm Eclairs.

“How can I help you two?” the man said in a surprisingly soft voice that wouldn’t have been expected to come out of such a gruff and intimidating man.

“Can I get a piece of banana bread and a caramel frappe with substitute almond milk and extra caramel drizzle?”

“Just a milkshake,” Hunter said under his breath, earning an elbow jab by Luz. 

“Alright. And you, kid?”

Hunter hated that he was actually tempted to try the Clown Milk Mocha to see what it tasted like, but decided to go with his usual café order instead.

“Can I get a medium iced matcha? Oh, and one croissant, please.”

Luz repeated the word ‘croissant’ in a higher tone and with a questionable level of pronunciation, earning a snort from Hunter. 

“Good choices. Will that be all?”

“Yep!” Luz said in a cheerful tone that Hunter thought was cute.

The cashier stared at the two almost as if he was waiting on something. 

“Right! Paying! Let me just…” 

Luz reached into pants pocket and pulled a couple crumpled dollars and some change. Hunter was about to do the same before the man waved the currency away.

“We don’t take cash here. We take secrets. Tell me a secret and you get your drinks and food.”

“Really? Does it matter what kind? Like, does it have to be something you’d take to the grave or just something silly?” Luz had some secrets she absolutely did not want to tell anyone, even for free food and drinks.

“Completely up to you.”

“Is there a catch? Like, if we tell you, we lose our memories of that secret or something?” Hunter said, knowing of how some thaumaturges could use the power of words to manipulate people.

The cashier squinted his eyes at the boy with confusion. “You watch too many horror movies. You can either tell a secret or move. You’re holding up the line.” The two looked behind them to see a line of impatient looking customers.

Hunter turned to Luz. “I’ll tell one if you will.”

Feeling encouraged and comforted with the fact someone else will be doing this with her, Luz leaned in and whispered into the man’s ear. The man lightly chuckled to himself.

“That’s adorable.”

He gave a nod and turned to Hunter.

“And you?”

Hunter thought for a moment, trying to find a secret he held that he considered not too dangerous for others to know, before leaning and whispering into the man’s ear.

The man looked at the boy with mild concern.

“Damn, kid. I was hoping for something more embarrassing, but depressive works too.”

Hunter gave a faux cough and just responded with, “The names for the orders are Luz and Hunter.”

The man gave a nod and the two moved aside for the next customer. The two stood to the side and waited for their food, the air suddenly taking on an aura of awkwardness. They heard their names a few minutes later, surprised by the quickness and efficiency despite there being multiple customers and seemingly one employee. The man handed the kids their food and beverages, Hunter grabbing his quickly and moving out of line. Luz showed concern, grabbed her food and drink, and followed him. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but decided against it, remembering what Hunter said was a secret and that he was under no obligation to tell her. Wanting to avoid the subject, she said, “So, where do you want to sit?”

“I don’t see many options,” he said, pointing to all the full tables.

“I saw a clearing on our way over here. That’d be a nice, quiet spot for us.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Hunter said, secretly glad they were going to a spot where they could be alone and not feel claustrophobic in the crowd of patrons. He always preferred being alone with Luz. Being near her brought him a level of comfort and safety he wasn’t accustomed to. She also brought out the best in him, making him laugh and letting him prattle on about his interests. Back in the Insurgency, he was expected to follow orders, never talk back, stay in line, or not waste time with “pointless” or “useless” activities. Being near someone who actually gave him the time of day and was actually interested in hearing him speak was… wonderful. It put a warm feeling in his chest and made his neurons fire with excitement. He’d never felt this way before. He didn’t think he could ever feel this way. He didn’t think he would ever-.

“There it is!”

Hunter snapped himself back to reality. They had been walking to the spot, him sneaking sips from his matcha because Luz insisted he wait until they arrived, and his mind must’ve wandered off into deep thought. The clearing was small but there was still more than enough space for them. More trees with books in their trunks and glowing mushrooms encircled the clearing, fireflies occasionally flying and flashing in and out. The two sat near some small boulders in the middle and dug into their meals.

“So, were you also curious about the Clown Milk Mocha?” Hunter said before biting into his buttery croissant.

“Extremely. Like, is it made by clowns or does it come from them directly? Like are they milked?” Luz said, taking a sip of her frappe and making Hunter almost choke.

“Why would you put that image in my head? I don’t want to talk about clown udders while eating.”

“You're the one who brought it up!”

“I wasn’t implying they got milked!”

“How else would they get the milk out?”

They two laughed at the absurdity of the conversation. They spent the next few minutes eating and chatting.

“Okay, I think the Forest is a bust. No one has said anything about seeing any lantern koi schools in here,” Hunter said, sipping his matcha. 

“I mean, it is a pretty big floor. We could probably spend a whole day here and only explore like half of it.”

“As much as I like this place, we might have to diversify where we look. If we stay in one place we would be limiting ourselves and wasting time.”

“Time isn’t wasted if you’re having fun. Seeing this place was definitely a highlight.”

“You’ve never been to this floor before?”

She shook her head. “Nope. I usually stick to the standard ones. I get too overwhelmed with having a lot of choices. Infinite choices in this case. It’s not too bad, though. Even the standard floors are amazing. It would probably take me five lifetimes to read through all the books on one shelf.”

“Mmm,” Hunter nibbled his croissant. An explosion of buttery flavor ignited in his mouth. 

“Oh my god. This croissant is great!”

“I bet.”

He instinctively moved his food away from her. “Hey, I see you eyeing my croissant. Keep your eyeballs in your head.”

“Like you weren’t eyeing my banana bread.”

“You wanna trade a bite?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. I don’t want to get cooties.”

“I assure you that I got tested for cooties and the test came back clean.”

“Hmmmmm, alright. Let me just…”

Luz ripped a piece of her banana bread off and handed it to Hunter who mimicked her action with his croissant. The two tapped their dessert bites together in a cheering motion and plopped the food in their mouths. Both their eyes lit up.

“That is good!” both said in unison.

The two finished their drinks and snacks and decided to rethink their approach. They wouldn’t be getting anywhere by just aimlessly wandering in locations where their target might be. They’d be looking forever in this infinite maze of books, magic, and employees with too many or not enough limbs and orifices. 

“The school would probably be somewhere with not a lot of people since they’re so rarely seen. There are lots of places here that people probably don’t go to.” Hunter lightly gripped his chin to signify how hard he was pondering the conundrum. 

“There must be a nest or cave they rest in when they’re not flying around. Hmmm…”

“An archive, maybe? Somewhere most patrons wouldn’t go. Dark, quiet, and probably has a lot of space for a place this big.”

Luz suddenly smacked her forehead as if to punish herself for not noticing something obvious, surprising Hunter. 

“I’m an idiot! We’re looking for a school of fish. So, we need bait to lure them out.”

“You’re not an idiot,” Hunter said before pointing to himself. “We’re idiots. I didn’t think of that either. Okay. What do flying, glowing koi fish eat?”

“To the booklet!”

She took out the booklet and flipped through the pages before landing back on the lantern koi.

“Hmm. Okay it says here that they usually eat particles found in the air, anything that shines or glows, or… each other. Ew. Fish cannibalism.”

Luz turned to Hunter

“You think if a blue one ate a yellow one it would turn green?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course it would.”

“Anything that glows…. Oh! Here!”

She plucked several of the glowing mushrooms off the ground and displayed them to Hunter. 

“Smart. But what if they don’t like mushrooms? They might prefer something with a bit more meat.”

A firefly landed on his nose causing him to sneeze. 

She smiled.

…

“Why did you have a glass jar with you?”

“When I say I always come prepared, I mean it!”

She triumphantly lifted up the jar filled with fireflies blinking in and out. They had spent about 30 minutes gathering a small swarm of them to act as their rainbow bait.

“So many fireflies. I could barely believe my eyes.”

“Not that hard to believe. It would make sense to find them in a dark lit forest. Makes them easier to see.”

“It’s a song.”

“What is?”

She sighed at her friend’s lack of music knowledge. “Never mind.”

She placed the jar in her backpack and zipped it up.

“Okay. Let’s go find a Docent and see if we can get access to an archive or two.”

The two looked around and suddenly noticed the lack of Docents on the floor. Usually a floor would have at least a dozen Docents to aid patrons, but besides the one that took the two up to the forest floor, they hadn’t spotted any for the last two hours. 

“That’s weird. Where are they?”

“Maybe there’s an emergency? They’re also supposed to be security, right?” Hunter said, trying to give a plausible explanation. 

“What could be so bad to have most of them to be needed?”

She tried to think of an emergency that required that many Docents. Her mind drifted to a freak magic ritual going wrong that caused a portal to open and release deadly, magical creatures into the Library. It wouldn’t be that far-fetched. Magical mishaps in the Library halls weren’t that uncommon. It was the reason why all wizards who entered the Library had to leave their registered, class 2 and above magic staffs at the front desks to avoid another incident. We do not talk about the incident. Stop asking.

Hunter’s mind drifted images of a hostile group forcing their way into the Library to steal its secrets. He suddenly felt very uneasy, rubbing his sigil mark on his wrist. To get his mind off it, he suggested they look for a map instead.

The two came across two maps set next to each other. The first map displayed the entirety of the Forest floor along with major locations such as tree houses and the café. The middle of the map displayed an image of a humanoid male with a bouquet of flowers for a head with a speech bubble stating “YOU ARE HERE”. 

They looked at the other map, both tilting their heads trying to make sense of it. It was, for lack of a better word, a doozy. It felt like staring at a magic eye hidden image poster after it was placed in a blender and set to purée. Lines crossed over each other, 2D images turned to 3D and then somehow to 4D which almost made the two vomit. Certain parts began to spiral inward, creating an almost hypnotic effect. The only part of the “map” that was discernible was a section that had a cartoon centipede pointing to an empty space and saying "YOU ARE HERE” in a speech bubble.

The two stopped staring at the map and rubbed their eyes.

“Did you understand any of that?” Hunter said, squinting his eyes.

“Nope. It was like someone shoved a handful of glitter into a kaleidoscope.”

“Tell me about it. Pretty sure I saw some new colors in there, too.”

“So the map’s a bust and all the Docents are busy. What’s our next option?”

Luz didn’t know. She racked her brain to think of a solution. Her line of thinking was halted when she heard a pair of high-pitched voices.

“Did you say something?”

“No?”

The two’s attention was redirected to a tree and looked above to see two tiny daffodils on a low hanging branch… talking? Gossiping probably would be a better word for it. That’s what it sounded like. One would occasionally whisper something into the other’s ear(?) causing the other one to giggle like a school girl. The language they spoke was not familiar at all. Their bodies were slightly humanoid with their leaves being used to mimic hands and unearthed roots that resembled legs. One let its legs swing happily off the branch while the other had its legs crossed over the other. Luz elbowed Hunter.

“Talk to them. They might know something.”

“Why me?” Hunter said, looking confused. 

“Aren’t you part tree? You can probably speak plant.”

…

…

…

…

“I said you can probably speak-.”

“I heard you and I’m not dignifying that.”

“Just try it!”

“Just because I’m made from wood does not mean I speak plant. Are you able to speak to cows because you’re made of meat?”

“I will not lie to you. I have held several conversations with cows before.”

“Luz.”

“Please. For me?”

She gives him her signature puppy dog eyes. He tries to resist.

…

He fails.

“Ugh, fine.” He begins to walk towards the flowers before quickly turning and saying, “One of these days that’s not going to work.”

She gives him a smug smile. She knew that day would never come. 

Hunter stood below the flowers and called out to them. 

“Um, hello. Do you mind helping us? We’re trying to find an archive or somewhere dark and quiet.”

The flowers turned to Hunter and, after a few moments, nodded, leaped down and landed on Hunter’s shoulder, and pointed their leaves to the left.

“Oh my god.”

Luz came over and slapped Hunter on the back. “See! I knew you could do it.”

“I hate that it worked. I hate that it worked.”

“C’mon, flower boy!” Luz grabbed Hunter’s wrist and dragged him in the direction the flowers pointed. 

The two were led to the elevator and stepped in. The flowers gestured for Hunter to move them to the keypad. He did so. The flowers punched in a code on the keypad and immediately leapt off and skedaddled back into the woods, laughing mischievously. 

The keypad read: -999-ZZZ.

Luz looked at Hunter who shrugged and closed the elevator doors. The elevator began to descend deeper and deeper into the darkness below.

Chapter Text

The elevator door opened to a dark archive only being poorly lit by gas lamps. The magical and whimsical aesthetic of the grand hall and Forest floor was nonexistent here. All that was left was a cold, grey, derelict wasteland of books and shelves. The cold in that statement was both metaphorical and literal. The archive was chilly enough to make the two’s arm hairs stand up. A low, unsettling hum is heard throughout the archive. 

“Well, this is definitely dark and quiet,” Hunter said, looking at their surroundings.

“And scary,”  Luz added.

The sound of the elevator doors closing behind her makes her jump, earning a light chuckle from Hunter. Luz gives him a glare in return. She takes out the jar of fireflies from her backpack and unscrews the lid, allowing three fireflies to escape before quickly placing the lid back on top. The fireflies flew and drifted down the dark halls of the archive and the two followed. The fireflies stuck together, one occasionally diverging from their path briefly before returning back to the other two. The plan was to follow the fireflies from a distance and see if they could lure out the Dazzling Rainbow, hoping the light in the darkness would act like an anglerfish luring its prey in the deep, dark abyss. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but they were already going off luck so it would at least increase their chances no matter how slightly it would be. Luck and hope. 

The sound of their footsteps on the tiled floor echoed down the archives halls. How large are these archives? Luz thought to herself. It had just occurred to Luz that getting lost was a possibility. On the Forest floor, there were at least marked paths and maps to help guide you. Here, there were no signs or arrows or anything to aid in guiding their way. She supposed that the Archivists and other Library staff were required to memorize all possible paths and the locations of all sections of the archive. Maybe the ones who couldn’t memorize the layout were lost forever in the cold, dark maze. She was readying herself to come across any long decayed corpses.

Hunter occasionally peeked at the spines of old books he passed. Most did not have any discernible markings or words displaying their contents. The only thing anyone could go off of was a small gold plaque located in the middle of the shelves, usually displaying a series of numbers, letters, and symbols. The plaque was ice cold to the touch, the cold lingering on his fingertips for a few seconds after. 

They made their way to a section of dark hallways without any of the usual lit lamps that provide meager light. The fireflies flew down the hallways, becoming more distinct as the halls got darker and darker. Even with the fireflies guiding them, it was still difficult to move through the dark surroundings. 

“I can barely see anything."

“Here."

She offers him her hand.

“So we don’t get separated.”

He accepts it, taking her right hand with his left. Her hand provides him some needed warmth. He rubs his thumb on the back of her hand, something she thought was cute. The hallways were now pitch black, the fireflies blinking in and out being their only guides. They hear a crunching beneath their heels.

“What’s that sound?”

“Sounds like broken glass. I think I know what happened to the lamps.” Hunter ground more to confirm. “Definitely broken glass. Wonder what broke them?”

A chittering sound is heard behind them. It reminded Luz of a combination of a cricket and a cicada. The chittering grew closer and louder, a scuttling sound being heard underneath it. 

“Ah!”

“Luz? What happened?”

“Something scuttled past my leg!”

“Maybe we should walk faster. I have a feeling that might’ve been the thing that broke the lamps.”

They sped up, hearing more scuttling and chittering now around them. Hunter felt something fly past his head that made him jump. He was about to say something before he realized that the fireflies they were following stopped blinking in and out, the light of two of the fireflies abruptly going out. A screech is heard and the last firefly goes out, as if something snatched it from the air. They were running now, trying to ignore the growing chittering and scuttling and to just focus on getting out of the dark. Luz looked behind her to see a copious amount of red dots in the dark. 

“Just keep running! Don’t stop!” Hunter said, trying to hide his fear. He could feel things nipping at his heels. What he would give to have his old rifle right now. He could’ve ran faster, but he didn’t want to leave Luz behind and he thought that if anyone was going to get eaten by whatever was chasing them he’d want it to be him so Luz could have a chance to get away. Maybe he tasted good.

Luz regretted not making any glyphs. To be fair, she didn’t expect to be in any immediate danger while in the Library. What she would do for a fire or light glyph right now. The two continued to run aimlessly in the dark, occasionally bumping into shelves and other objects. They couldn’t just keep running and hope that the creatures following them would get tired. When all hope seemed lost, Luz could see faint lights in the distance. 

“Hunter! Go towards the light!”

“That’s the opposite of what I want to do!”

“No! Literally!”

Hunter saw the lights that grew closer and appeared to shine from another floor above them. He could see a faint outline of stairs that led up to the floor and into their salvation. They booked it, using every last bit of energy they had to race up the stairs. As they got closer, Hunter noticed the chittering begin to decrease and the number of red eyes disappearing from the dark. The two made it to the top of the staircase, but still continued to run until they knew they were alone. The chittering and scuttling had decreased more and more until the only sound that could be heard was their echoing footsteps and haggard breathing. Luz felt safe enough to collapse from exhaustion onto the floor, Hunter falling down with her.

The two breathed heavily, giving themselves a moment of reprieve.

“Hunter.”

“Hmm?”

“You can stop holding my hand now.”

He looked down to see that he was indeed still holding her hand. He quickly retracted it and gave a small blush.

“Sorry.”

“What the heck were those things?”

“Don’t know. Don’t wanna know. I want to go the rest of my life without knowing,” Hunter said, rubbing the side of his head where he felt one of those things fly past him.

Luz takes out a small notepad and pencil from her backpack and begins to scribble glyphs onto the paper, mainly fire and light glyphs. Hunter rests his back on a bookshelf and shimmies next to Luz. He looks up into the distant void that was the ceiling of the archive. He lets out a deep sigh. 

“Heh. Yeah. Probably would’ve been better off in the Forest.”

“I shouldn’t have listened to those flowers.”

“Don’t blame yourself too much. I was the one who told you to go up to them.”

He tilts his head up to stare at the impossibly high ceiling.

“Sorry this day hasn’t turned out all that great,” Luz said.

“It hasn’t been too bad. We got some good snacks and saw some cool sights.”

“We can always come tomorrow. Or the next day. I dunno. Might just be a waste of time.”

Hunter, feeling Luz’s sad aura, felt a need to lighten the mood.

“Well I guess our week is fully… booked.”

She stared at him.

“You know because we’re in a library and it has… books….”

She snorts.

“You’re so lame.”

“Hey! Take that back or I’ll Dewey decimate you!”

A genuine smile starts to creep up from her lips.

“Believe me. This weekend is going to be LIT-erary!”

Laughter started to pour out from her. Hunter’s horrible puns had miraculously worked. 

“I didn’t even know you knew what “lit” was.”

“Stop thinking I’m an old man who doesn’t know modern slang!”

“Okay, grandpa.”

“I’m only two years older than you.”

“Old man. You’re practically dust.”

He playfully shoves her.

“Seriously though. I didn’t expect things to go off without a hitch. This place is kinda unpredictable. Besides being chased by creeping things in the dark, this day’s been pretty fun.”

“I just really want to cap the summer off with something good for the both of us. Something memorable,” Luz says.

“Anything’s worth remembering if you’re involved,” Hunter said. He cringes to himself after realizing how sappy that sounded, but Luz just smiles.

“Thanks. Okay, I think we’re set.”

She puts a few of the glyphs in her pocket for quick access and packs the rest in her backpack next to the jar of the remaining fireflies. 

“Keep guard of these, little guys.”

Hunter stands up and brushes off his jeans. “So, what’s our next move?”

Luz stands up as well and looks around them before peering back down the dark stairway.

“Well, we definitely shouldn’t go back there, even with glyphs. So let’s keep moving and searching through here and see if we can find another elevator.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He brings his fist towards her for a fistbump that she gives back. Luz begins to move. Hunter gives the void of darkness down the hall one last look before joining her. 

Chapter Text

The two continue to wander the seemingly endless maze of shelves and walls of filing cabinets before hearing an annoyed voice around the corner. Luz and Hunter peered around a bookshelf to see a man with a pencil thin mustache and brown, tweed suit standing and barking commands to a group of Docents that stood at attention. The only inhuman thing about him that stood out was the vertical eye sitting in the middle of his forehead. Next to him stood a tall, nervous looking man with a simple button up shirt, rustic hair, and freckles carrying a tablet.

“You all check the southwestern area. You are to report on anything out of the ordinary. If you encounter any mimics, you are to exterminate them with extreme prejudice. Understood?”

The Docents nodded and did what they were told, heading to the southwestern shelves. The man in tweed massaged his temples and turned to his assistant.

“Jeremy, be honest with me. How bad is the infestation?”

“W-Well sir, to be frank, it’s probably the worst one the Library’s ever seen.”

The trinocular man threw his hands up into the air in dismay. “Oh, why couldn’t you just lie to me?”

“Because you told me not to?”

The tweed man sighed. “The book mimics have never been this bad. A small number is a nuisance. A full infestation is a nightmare.”

“There might be a Queen or a large nest hidden away somewhere.”

The tweed man pinched the ridge of his nose. “Perfect! Just perfect! There’s some nasty creature laying its disgusting eggs all over my precious archive! Jeremy I want these things exterminated immediately.”

“We’re trying our best, s-sir.”

“Well try harder. We’re lucky that most of them are fine staying on one floor, but they are definitely going to want to spread their destruction, terrorize our patrons, and give me an even worse headache.”

“I-I did see some on the main floor, sir.”

The tweed man’s center eye twitched. “Jeremy I’m about to scream.”

“Let’s go to your office, sir. I’m sure the Docents are more than capable of taking care of this.”

The tweed man continued complaining as he and his assistant briskly walked away. 

When the two men were out of sight, Luz and Hunter stepped out from behind the bookshelf.

“Book mimics. That must've been what was in the dark with us.”

“Yuck. I hate those things. Anything that scuddles on a bunch of legs makes my skin crawl,” Hunter said.

“Maybe we should ask that guy if he can take us back up. Don’t really feel like running into a mimic Queen. Aaaaaaand I’m starting to think we should’ve gotten permission before we came down here. Ooh he’s going to be mad,” Luz cringed.

“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” He paused. “Actually, nevermind that’s bad advice.”

Luz had turned and attempted to move towards the two men’s direction before running and face planting into a tall row of bookshelves that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She rubbed her nose.

“Ah! Where did that come from?”

Hunter pointed up at a small plaque near the shelf that said:

Warning: Beware of dimensional shifting/spontaneous moving shelves. Thank you.

“Why is that a thing? Who designed this place?!” Luz yelled.

“A giant snake, apparently.”

“Well that snake is a poor planner,” Luz replied.

The two looked at the new shifted pathway in front of them. They both shrugged and made the best of their new situation and began to walk. The hallway led to several staircases that descended down, ascended up, extended sideways, and some spiraled into what looked like a fibonacci sequence. It reminded Luz of a MC Escher painting. The two decided to take the safe bet and descended down the regular stairs with regular, reliable gravity. The stairway ended at a hallway with more books and the usual unsettling atmosphere. Hunter and Luz sighed in frustration. They started to hear high-pitched humming and followed it before hearing a voice say, “Stop!” They looked around and saw no one. 

“Down here!” 

The two looked down to see a tiny humanoid cloaked in midnight blue robes with the face and wings of a sparrow. It flew up to the two’s eye level. Luz recognized them as one of the bird humanoids that leapt off the edge of the Forest tree houses. 

“Ah! I see some fellow wanderers that also couldn’t resist the draw of knowledge.”

“Did you get brought here by walking flowers too?”

“Why yes I did! How did you know?”

Hunter grimaced. “Before we leave, I’m burning those flowers.”

“I am doing research for an article I’m writing and need to find some older works. Would you like to join me? Study groups are oh so much fun.”

“We were actually trying to find a way out of here,” Luz said softly. 

“Oh! I can help! We Wandsmen know our way around anywhere. All you need to do is-.”

Before he could finish, a book mimic launched itself past the two and snapped its jaws around the tiny helper. Their muffled screams of terror could be heard through the pages.

“Hey!” Luz said angrily. Hunter and Luz struggled to pry the mimic’s jaw open as the Wandsman screamed in terror. The finally opened the mimic open, allowing the Wandsman to quickly fly out crying.

“I feel violated!” the Wandsmen yelled out, hurriedly flying down the archive halls.

The mimic continued to fight the two, snapping its jaws and hissing. Hunter took hold of it fully, ripping the mimic from Luz’s hands.  It begins to snap in Hunter’s direction and Hunter, being completely sick of this, immediately kicks the mimic and sends it flying through the air. A high-pitched yelping sound is exclaimed by the mimic. Hunter wipes his hand on his shirt and grimaces. 

“I HATE those things,” he says vehemently. 

The mimic hits the ground hard landing on its side. It quickly composes itself before glaring at Hunter and letting out a loud screech that makes the two cover their ears. Suddenly, the two begin to hear familiar chittering around them. Luz reaches into her pocket and prepares a glyph. Hunter gets into a battle stance and surveys the area for any other hostiles. He looks up and his heart drops into a pit in his stomach.

“Uh, Luz.” Hunter said while trying to hide his fear.

“What is-?”

Above them, scattered and clinging onto the shelves, were hundreds of red eyes shining in the dark. As they moved closer, their shapes began to be more distinct and Hunter grimaced when he saw the hundreds of hairy, spindly, spider-like legs that the creatures moved on. The mimics began to converge, not on the two teenagers, but upon a single, empty bookshelf they had passed and paid no mind too. The bookshelf began to rumble before falling on its back. More mimics continue to pile into the shelves of the toppled bookshelf. Unbearable chittering is heard all the while. A creaking sound is heard as the shelf begins to shift. Long, spindly legs emerge from its sides and multiple insectoid-like eyes appear at what would be the top of the “bookshelf”, all crimson red. It lifted itself by its spindly legs and stretched, more sounds of wood creaking occurring. Its surface shifted and began to look more similar to chitin on a rhinoceros beetle. It was huge. Much larger than any mimic Luz had ever encountered in the Library. The largest mimic she ran into was one that mimicked a Britannica dictionary, but this was a whole other beast. The fully revealed mimic, that the two assumed was the mother the man was talking about, scanned its surroundings. Its gaze landed on the two.

“Okay. Just back away slowly and maybe it won’t want to eat us.”

The mimic that Hunter kicked scuttled in front of its mother and gestured at the two. It glared at Hunter and then let out a hiss towards its mother as if communicating. The mother barred its jagged teeth at the boy and growled. That was all the motivation they needed to book it for their lives. The Queen mimic roared and gave chase down the halls the two ran through.

“Why did you have to kick her baby!?”

“I wouldn’t have done it if I knew there’d be consequences!” Hunter shouted.

“That’s a terrible mindset!” Luz exclaimed.

The giant mimic chased the two through long hallways and corridors, its babies occasionally leaping from its back to attempt to snap their maws at them. Luz threw fire glyphs at them to scorch them, but more and more kept coming. The mother crashed into bookshelves and filing cabinets, tearing them down and making them tumble like a set of dominoes. A large shelf fell in their way and blocked their path, the two stopping in time before it could crush them. They looked behind them to see the mother rampage towards them and Luz prepared another set of glyphs before Hunter abruptly scooped her up in a bridal hold, causing her to blush and take note of his strength, and began to scale and leap onto the set of fallen over shelves. The mimic effortlessly climbed over the shelves and did not give up on its pursuit. They made it to a large open area that had several Docents that came to investigate the carnage. Hunter, still holding Luz,  ran past the group without a second thought and the mother brutally trampled over a number of Docents. The remaining Docents began to fire thaumaturgic energy from their lamps onto the mother that barely slowed it down. Several mimics launched themselves from their mother to the Docents and began to bite and tear at them like piranhas at a cow carcass. Hunter ran to a large bridge that connected to another section of the archive. Below the bridge was a deep, dark pit that didn’t seem to have a bottom. The mother caught up to them and launched more of its children at them causing Hunter and Luz to trip and fall onto the floor. Luz recovered quickly and used a light glyph to temporarily blind the mimics with the bright, shining light to give them just a second to catch their breath before running again. The mother screeched and thrashed about, its long legs nearly swatting at and crushing some of its own babies. Luz looked towards Hunter who was breathing heavily from the amount of running and physical activity he had exerted. He gave a small smile to reassure her. He was so focused on her and her safety that he didn’t notice the mother behind him swinging her large leg in his direction. Luz ran and pushed Hunter out of the way as the spindly leg of the mother quickly came down striking Luz hard in the chest and making her fly into the air. Time seemed to slow for Hunter as he saw his friend fly closer to the edge of the bridge. He broke out in a sprint and attempted to grab her before she could fall. He reached out his hand towards her. He was close. But not close enough, as Luz sailed over the ledge. 

“Luz!” Hunter screamed as he watched his friend fall into pure oblivion. 

The last thing Luz saw was Hunter’s face stricken with horror. She tried to reach for him, but she just fell deeper into the dark. 

And she fell.

And fell…

And fell…

Chapter Text

She’s fine.

She has to be fine.

I need her to be fine.

Those were the thoughts that were racing through Hunter’s mind as he saw his best friend be fully subsumed into a seemingly endless void. He almost jumped in after her. He paid no mind to the book mimics still trying to get their bearings as he thought about all the ways Luz could be fine. She probably went through a Way or maybe there was something soft down there to break her fall or she used a glyph to slow her descent somehow. She’s okay. She’s okay. 

An intrusive thought slithered into his mind of having to walk home without her. Opening the door to see Camila sitting in the living room reading one of her romance novels about vampires or werewolves and her asking how the trip was. He doesn’t answer. She asks where Luz was and he can’t get the words out. His hands are shaking and he just breaks down crying. How could he be so careless? How could he be so useless? Why didn’t he try harder to save her? Why did he have to burden them with his existence? Why couldn’t it have been him instead?

He breaks out of the horrible vision by feeling a sharp pain on his right leg. He yells in pain and looks down to see a familiar mimic biting his ankle. Fully snapping back to reality, Hunter brings his leg up and brings it down in an axe kicking motion. The mimic yelps and lets go. Hunter breaks into a run into the deeper archive as the mother mimic gains her bearings. Since he no longer needed to aid Luz, Hunter put his soldier training back to work and began to briskly climb upon the shelves, occasionally even leaping for extra speed and distance. He makes it to the top of one of the shorter shelves and looks down to see the mother and her remaining children climbing up at him. He ran and leapt from shelf to shelf, hearing the destruction and roaring behind him. 

“Keep moving, Hunter. Keep moving.”

He continues to climb and leap shelf after shelf until he is eventually able to leap onto a higher level of the archive by grabbing onto a guardrail and climbing up. A mimic just barely misses his leg as he does so. He makes it a few more meters before the mother mimic leaps onto the guardrail. Its large size makes it difficult to elegantly climb up so it gives him a few more precious seconds to get more distance. He goes deeper into the archive before hiding behind a shelf and stays as quiet as he can. He hears heavy scuttling coming to his direction and he holds his breath. He hears the heavy breathes of the mother as it searches its surroundings. Beads of sweat slowly pour from his forehead as he feels the creature get closer to him. Hunter ponders whether to stay in place or to make a break for it before he hears the screeches of dissatisfaction of the mimic when it concludes that he is not there. It lets out one more low growl before it scuttles to another section of the archive away from him. When he believes the coast is clear, he finally breathes out and collapses onto the floor. His lungs are on fire and his muscles ache. He breathes heavy before reality collapses onto him and he remembers what he just lost.

“Luz…”

He tries to get up, but his legs refuse to listen, trembling and bringing him back down to the floor. He starts to panic.

“No, no, no, no. Not again. She has to be fine. She needs to be fine. She’s not dead.”

He grabs his head. “She’s not dead, Hunter. You didn’t mess up again. She’s fine. You’re going to see her again. You’re…”

Failure.

“No.”

Coward.

“No!”

Too weak.

“Shut up!”

His voice echoes and he covers his mouth. He stays quiet and listens carefully for about a minute before he allows himself to lower his guard. 

He sighs and sniffles. “Don’t cry, Hunter. You’re better than that. What would Luz think? Heh. She’d probably ask why I was being such a crybaby.”

He pauses.

“No she wouldn’t. She’d give me a shoulder to cry on and listen to me whine all day. Probably rub my head and tell me everything was going to be okay.” The thought sends a warm feeling through his chest. He closed his eyes and his mind began to wander. He thinks about whether this scenario would make it on his personal list of worst experiences. He remembers hiding in a pile of corpses to escape from crazy cultists who threatened to carve him up and offer up his remains to their god. He remembers locking and leaning on his bedroom door as his uncle yelled at him, crying and wondering if that was going to be the night his uncle finally decided to do it. He remembers enhanced interrogations from groups of interests, being injected with substances that made him feel like he was being set on fire from the inside-out and others that made him relive his worst nightmares. He remembers every horror he’s ever experienced. And yet he’d go through it all over again if it meant bringing his Luz back. 

He opens his eyes and he realizes his surroundings have changed. Still leaning on the original bookshelf, but now the open spaces on both his sides had been replaced by two more large shelves. In front of him lies a long hallway with occasional openings to other hallways. 

“Dimensional shifting. Great,” he groans. He hears that horrible and familiar scuttling. He groans more. “This place must hate me.”

He sees the spindly leg lurch from behind a corner and sees the crimson eyes immediately stare him down.

“Hey, mama. Heh.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

She expected to be splattered when she landed. A pile of crushed bones and a pool of blood growing under her. Instead, the landing she experienced felt like when she would accidentally roll out of her bed when she slept. A minor pain that went away after a minute or two. Where she was now was stark contrast to the void she fell in. Did she go through a Way without realizing? The darkness she was plunged in was now replaced by pleasant, warm light. She stands on rough, green terrain. A field or mountain maybe, she thinks. She stares out into the horizon and sees what resembles a golden sky permanently stuck at dawn. When she looks up, she sees large fragments of buildings with varying levels of architecture. Buildings resembling old, decaying temples holding weathered scrolls of forgotten knowledge float by her along with fragments of more modern libraries. The ground beneath her begins to shift slightly. A slight rumble at first before a more drastic movement brings her down to her knees. Earthquake, she at first thinks. She realizes that she is not standing on the ground, but on something… alive. She is taken by a combination of shock, awe, and fear at what she sees beginning to rise. 

Saying it was simply just a snake would be doing it a disservice. The Serpent’s length was vast and, seemingly, never ending. Its length was enough to coil around the universe itself. Its body is covered in diamond-shaped scales, vibrant emerald green on top with a golden underbelly. The Serpent’s head is adorned with large antlers resembling tree branches with multicolored leaves. As a leaf breaks off and falls, a new one immediately grows back to replace it. The scelera of the Serpent resembles the darkness of space with stars and swirling galaxies randomly scattered. Starlight constantly blinks in and out of existence like the fireflies Luz had captured. Luz sees universes begin and end in seconds. She sees so many stories in it’s eyes. She sees a young woman able to form fire from her fingertips, a love story between star-crossed lovers separated from opposing sides of a bloody war, the wings bursting from the back of a young fae, a witch king causing a slave revolt, a man causing the sea itself to boil. She sees so many stories. First, second, and third points of view from every angle. Trying to comprehend them all feels like a railroad spike being hammered into her skull. Multiple serpents in mythology flash through Luz’s mind. Jormungondr, the World Serpent. Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent God. The Serpent in the garden that cursed humanity with their wonderful and horrid knowledge by injecting its venom into their minds. It is all these things and more. She is broken out of her trance by a soft, androgynous voice. 

“Hello, child of Asem.”

Luz nervously swallowed. “Uh… hi?”

“It’s been so long since I’ve met a human face to face. Fascinating that you were able to make your way to me. The Ways are usually too well hidden. Even the Archivists haven’t been able to find them.”

“W-Who are you?”

“Ah. Names. We’re supposed to have those, aren’t we? Hmmmmmm…”

It closes its eyes in deep thought. It then opens them and for a brief moment, a flash of golden light expels from its eyes, as if to signify a decision or sudden remembrance. 

“Nahash. I believe that’s appropriate. I recall being called that by the Fair Folk. I am Nahash.”

“I’m Luz…”

“It is very nice to meet you, Luz the human.”

Luz is silent for a few seconds. She then puts all the pieces together

“You’re the Serpent. You created the Wanderer’s Library.”

“Correct.”

A God. She was talking to a God. Luz never considered herself religious. She believed the gods existed, but she was never a devout follower to a singular one. She preferred to learn rather than worship. Standing in front of Nahash made her want to fall back to her knees. She didn’t know if it would be out of reverence or fear. Perhaps both?

Nahash moves their head closer to Luz and inspects her closely. Luz stands at attention. Nahash moves back and smiles.

“A young scholar. It is always nice to see the youth of today pursuing hidden knowledge. It makes my cold blood grow warm.”

“T-Thank you.”

“You seem so nervous. What is wrong, my child?”

“Sorry. I wasn’t expecting to talk to a God today. Especially you. I wasn’t sure if you were real or just… I don’t know. A metaphor or something.”

“I try to keep out of worldly affairs nowadays. I am quite the introvert.”

The Serpent chuckles.

“I have kept an eye on Kharak’s spawn just in case she proves to be a danger. He was always annoying with his need to destroy. Like a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum.”

“Who’s-? Nevermind. I probably don’t want to know.”

“Apologies. That is another story that is still being told. Now, answer me this. What brings you here, child?”

“I was running away from this giant mimic and I ended up separated from…”

Hunter.

The craziness of the situation nearly made her forget. The realization came crashing down on her like a wall of bricks.

“Oh no. No, no, no, no. Hunter’s still in danger. I need to get to him.”

“I take it you’re talking about the Grimwalker.”

“You know what’s happening to Hunter?”

“Of course. I know everything.”

“Well that means you can stop this, right? Just do some of your Serpent magic and save him. Like just open a Way and bring him here.”

It does not speak. It looks at her plainly.

“What? You can call off those mimics, right?”

Silence.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Why should I?”

Her blood runs cold and her heart drops down to her stomach when she hears those words. 

“What?”

“Why should I help?”

“B-Because my friend is in danger!”

“I am an observer and cataloguer. I contain knowledge. I do not interfere. I let the universe proceed as it needs and I take note of everything that has come to pass.”

She gave Nahash a dumbfounded look.

“You can’t be serious. You’re not going to help him? You’re just going to watch?”

“I believe that is what I said. Yes.”

She stumbles over her words trying to comprehend what she was hearing.

“W-What about the mimics? You should know they’re making a mess of the Library. Your Library. You need to do something about that.”

“The Docents and other staff are more than capable of handling them. The Library has faced greater dangers than this.”

Luz’s anger began to boil over and she wanted to scream and thrash at the Serpent. 

“So you’re just going to sit here and do nothing?”

It looks at her plainly.

“Let me out of here.”

“I will not stop you, but I feel it would be cruel if I did not put things into a realistic perspective for you.”

Nahash leans in closer to the girl.

“He is but another story that will be finished and be placed back upon the shelf. Everything ends, human. Even me. Save yourself and let the nature of the universe progress. If it is his time, then it is his time. Do not put your life in danger for an almost certain outcome. I can create a Way to the grand hall for you to leave safely, but that is all I’m willing to do. I know that you’ve witnessed someone’s story ending before. You should be used to this by now.”

She flinches. She is suddenly reminded of ambulances, medical treatments, and hospital beds. She stands there in silence, fully taking in their words.

“Do you understand?”

…

“No.”

“No?”

“No!”

“Oh? Do you think you know more than me? Do you see yourself wiser? You who have only lived a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of my lifetime. Do you think you-?”

“Shut up!”

If the Serpent had eyebrows it would be raising them in surprise.

“I don’t care about your philosophical nonsense. Hunter isn’t just a story in a book or words on a page. He’s a person. He’s my friend and he’s in trouble. If you’re not going to stop this, then just let me go and I will. At least one of us will be useful and can actually say we did something.”

“Human…”

“Unless you’re about to tell me how to get out of here, I don’t want to hear it!”

Silence. Nahash rises up, displaying its impossibly unending length and height and stares down at her.

“Most people tend to treat me with much more respect.”

Luz suddenly remembers her place and where she is. Her hands start to shake and sweat starts to build on her forehead but she tries to stand up straight and defiant. She even puts up her shaking hands into two fists as if she planned to punch her way out.

“You could die.”

“I’d die saving my friend.”

“And could he live without you?”

…

“Very well.”

Chapter Text

Hunter wished he could’ve died by something cooler than a bookshelf with anger issues. Death by firing squad? Dignified. Saving his teammates by untold horrors and sacrificing himself in the process? Heroic. One last stand against a horde of Sarkic flesh monsters? Badass. This? Just embarrassing. 

The mother creeped closer to the cornered boy ready to strike and gnash his flesh and bones. Hunter swore he could hear the remaining smaller mimics giggle at his patheticness. He slowly and carefully reaches up to his mouth to go for his false molar. Cyanide. Nice, quick, and relatively painless. He had hoped he’d never have to use it, but… 

The mimic drew closer.

Oh well. He goes to break open the false tooth before hearing a familiar high pitched scream above him. Him and the mimic looked up to see faint lights glower brighter and brighter until…

*CRASH* *SHATTER*

Luz came screaming from above, throwing and breaking the jar of fireflies over the mimic’s head. The fireflies scattered and the mimic and its children snapped at the small swarm around them before Luz quickly unleashed a large bout of flame and bright light from her glyphs to draw them back. She looked back at Hunter who had a look of astonishment and disbelief on his face. 

“Luz!?”

“Hey Hunter! How’s it going?”

“I thought you were dead!”

“Sorry!”

“Don’t be sorry. This is great!”

“Sorry about feeling sorry then.”

Small balls of light stream into the air while others explode in a flashbang of brightness. Mimics are burned, others scatter from the light while others continue to cling to their mother, but the mother stays determined and continues to march through. Luz stares it down.

“Oh don’t worry, big mama. I’ve got plenty more-.”

She reaches into her backpack to find a distinct lack of paper.

“Crap.”

The mother grins and swipes her, knocking her into Hunter. 

“Note to self: Don’t go all out immediately.”

The mother, sick of these games, lunges at the two. Hunter quickly gets between it and Luz and attempts to shield her. Both close their eyes tight and ready themselves for toothy oblivion before hearing a big impact and the mimic letting out a screech. They open up their eyes and are amazed to see a large, shining orange koi fish biting and thumping at the lights and fireflies still stuck to the mother. The mother attempts to fight back, but it is unable to keep up with the fish’s swift movements and is disoriented more by the light. Before they can question it, a red koi shoots out of the darkness above them. Then a yellow one. Then blue. Then green, purple, and some with swirls of two or more colors. A burst stream of color rushed towards them and the mimic, snatching up the sprinkling lights above and striking the mimic and its children. The mother screeches as its children are consumed by the hungry colors and attempt to fight back but is overwhelmed as even more striking koi come flying through the ether. The overlapping colors were beautiful, all twirling around as if it was a tornado of bright, shining pigments. The mimic cried as the largest of the koi, the color of pure gold, rushed towards it and effortlessly chomped down and swallowed it in one go. Hunter and Luz grabbed onto the fins of the largest koi and climbed on top. They heard the screeching of the mimic begin to die down before falling completely silent. After the meal, the koi leader swam away with the others in tow. Luz looks behind her to see an elated Hunter and the stream of mesmerizing color behind him. They rode on the golden koi through several layers and Ways through the Library. They passed through the Forest, sparkling lakes, cave systems, floors large and small filled with wondrous creatures. Eventually, the large koi slowed down enough for them to jump off onto one of the regular main floors. The two waved at their rainbow as it swam into the darkness. It responded by burping up a twitching, spindly severed leg. They both breathed heavily and began to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Hunter grabbed and gave Luz the warmest and tightest hug he had ever given anyone. She returned it in kind, though she was not able to return the same amount of crushing strength her friend gave. The hug, unfortunately, had to end as they had a new problem they now had to face. 

“Um, Hunter?”

“Hmm?”

The two looked at the centipede shaped Archivist and the man with three eyes staring at them sharply. They both let out an awkward laugh as the Rounderpede beckoned them with its finger.

… 

Turns out they weren’t in that much trouble. Hunter had worried about a possible permanent expulsion from the Library. Rounderpede, to the tri-eyed man’s dismay, gave them a two week suspension from the Library due to the partial destruction of the archives. Since they technically aided with the extermination of the Library’s troublesome mimics, the Archivist decided to be lenient with their punishment. They were sent on their way, through a Way, back home with Luz waving goodbye to the many-legged (armed?) Archivist and his disgruntled employee. They stumbled out of the Way from the crooked tree and watched as it swiftly closed behind them. It was late in the day and they sat at the edge of the forest gazing at the sunset side by side.

“So, what did you get up to while I almost got eaten alive by living books?”

“Almost fist fought a literal god of knowledge.”

“Huh. Neat.”

The silence between them was palpable. Near-death experiences often lead to silent contemplation of one’s mortality. Maybe it was fine to be quiet. Maybe they didn’t need to say anything-.

“I never planned on being happy.”

Or not

She looks at him with confusion and slight concern.

“That was my secret. The one I told the barista.”

He sighs and tilts his head back to look up at the sky, as if to avoid eye contact.

“I didn’t have the best life. Constant training, dangerous missions, days where it was a gamble whether I was going to come home in one piece or not at all. And even when I was home it didn’t make me feel any better. The insults and strikes my uncle would throw my way. Him reminding me that I’m not doing good enough. It never felt right. I never felt right. I could maybe count the number of times I felt good about myself on one hand. Anytime I looked in the mirror and saw my scars all I could think about is how much of a failure I was. I hardly had anyone to talk to. God knows I wasn’t going to trauma dump to my commanding officer or uncle. I used to scream and cry into my pillow just to get my anger out.”

He sighs.

“Then after a while I kinda just… accepted it. Accepted that it was never going to get better for me and so I figured I might as well just fall in line and do as I was told. Maybe that would make it easier. I started to push those feelings as far down as I could. I tried not to feel, but it just made things worse. There were days where I wished I wouldn’t wake up in the morning because I thought that would be the only way for that suffering to end.”

He turns to Luz.

“But then I met you. You and Camila are amazing. Taking me in when you had absolutely no reason or obligation to. I wasn’t a soldier or something to be used and thrown away anymore. You guys treated me like an actual person. I didn’t know how to take it. It was so foreign to me. I thought there’d be a catch like you were using me, but no. You were kind just because. So…”

He smiles at her. “Thank you. Thank you for making me feel welcome.”

She isn’t sure what to say. She watches him awkwardly put his hands in his pockets and kick at the ground.

“Why tell me now?”

“It was bugging me ever since we went to the café and with us almost dying… multiple times, I wanted to make sure you knew. Just in case. I was kinda speedrunning through the stages of grief back there. Heh.”

“Heh.”

She looks down at the ground. She thinks to herself and decides that she’s in a confessing mood as well. At least to even the levels of traumadumping. 

“Last words.”

“Hmm?”

“The knock. You need to say the last words that you were told by someone you loved. Figured it out when I was talking to myself in the woods.”

“Oh.”

“It’s uh… So, my dad was sick. Really sick. We moved to Gravesfield because the hospital near here would give better treatment. It helped for a while. But I guess it wasn’t good enough. The last time I saw him, he was hooked up to so many machines and he looked so pale. I’m always here, my Little Light. Those were the last words he said to me. I didn’t know they would be the last words, of course.”

She sniffles.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It’s just that with the Way being near my house and how you open it, it felt personal to me. A special place that brought me happiness when I really needed it. Take me somewhere that made me forget about all my problems. I didn’t want to share it. Or at least, not make it easy for people to open it. I know that sounds selfish and childish.”

“Not at all. It makes sense,” he says.

“It just felt so poetic. Like it was meant for me. Those words were just… they just mean a lot to me. They had such a finality to them. Like it was the perfect ending of… a story. Sometimes… I guess we’re just stories in the end. We all get to the last page, eventually.”

She hated that she was agreeing with that overgrown danger noodle. 

He doesn’t know what to say at first. Should he say something?

“I guess all we can do is make sure our story is good enough to be remembered. I think he would be happy to know you still think about him. He’d probably feel honored to know his words helped you find somewhere that brought you a lot of joy. It’s like he’s always with you. Like his story never really ended.”

She stares at him with her hazel eyes, with them becoming more vibrant in the setting Sun.

She chuckles.

“Was that too cheesy?”

“Yeah, but…”

She rests her head on his shoulder.

“Cheese is good sometimes.”

“Aren’t you lactose intolerant?”

“Shhhh.”

“Was that the secret you told the barista?”

“No. I told him that sometimes I roll myself in a blanket, shimmy to a corner, and pretend I was chrysalis with a butterfly inside waiting to emerge. Then I dip my tongue in juice to pretend I’m sucking nectar. I didn’t want to undercut your confession with something silly.”

“You're so freaking weird.”

The moment they share is peaceful.

“I’m really happy that you’re in my life.”

He looks at her and it’s like feeling the light and warmth of the sun on his face after a long, cold night. It didn’t matter that summer was ending. Being near Luz made it feel like summer everyday.

…

The first day of school was painfully average. 

She had decided to walk home, not feeling up to being around other people and the weather outside was notably pleasant, at least for her. Gray clouds blanketing the sky and a nice temperature that wasn’t too warm or too cold. She breathed in the clean air and sighed. Luz made her way down the sidewalk to her house. 

She was greeted by a friendly face. On her porch, she saw Hunter sitting in one of the wicker chairs. When he saw her, he jolted and stood up, waving his hand and giving an adorable grin.

“Don’t tell me you waited here all day.”

“Just an hour. I wanted to be here when you got back. Wanna ‘blah, blah, blah,’ me about how your day went?”

“Think I’d rather go to my room and collapse on the floor.”

“Sounds like a plan. Lead the way, boss.”

The spent the rest of the afternoon in her room, mostly in silence with him reading and her sketching on her sketchpad. She gestures to him.

“Gimme your arm. I wanna draw on you.”

“You know you can use paper, right?”

“Yeah, but you’re a better canvas.”

He doesn’t know how to respond to the odd compliment so he acquiesces and wordlessly gives her his arm.

“I got hit with a lot of inspiration. Prepare to become a masterpiece!”

He smiles. “My body is ready. Or at least my arm is.”

She spent about an hour drawing and switching out different colored markers. The feeling of the markers gliding on his skin felt soothing to Hunter and he didn’t even mind that much that whenever Luz made a mistake she would lick the tip of her finger and rub the misplaced mark away. Okay he minded a little, calling her gross, but he still didn’t pull away. Luz eventually finished and brought her multicolored smudged fingers away to gaze at her work. She let out a triumphant giggle.

“Can I look?” Hunter said with his eyes still closed.

“Yep!” she said joyfully.

“I swear if you drew yaoi on my arm, I’m going to-.”

She, in fact, did not draw extremely detailed yaoi on his arm. Instead, he was met with a kaleidoscope of different colored stylized koi fish twisting and turning along his forearm. Some had standout features like creative scale patterns while others had creative liberties taken with their eyes appearing similar to anime characters and some having buster swords. The thing that really caught his eye were two fish swimming together near his wrist covering his sigil: one golden yellow and the other vibrant violet. He could swear they were holding fins. 

“Sooooooooo? What’cha think?”

He was silent for a few seconds before saying, “It’s…. wonderful. Thank you.”

“Glad you like it. Also I did draw yaoi on you.”

He looked back at his arm to see a small section that had two fish, both with anime boy hair, kissing.

“Luz!”

“I like to think that their relationship was a slow burn.”

He rolls his eyes, but he can’t help but smile. Her silliness was infectious. 

“Maybe enemies to lovers?”

“Oooh.”

…

He looks at himself in the bathroom mirror. Despite the altercation they had gone through, he came out with just a few scratches. He honestly had worse. He looked down at his hand at the false tooth filled with cyanide. He hadn’t put it back in, but had kept it in his pocket for the last week. He spent at least an hour a day looking at it and contemplating. He rubs the tooth with his thumb, feeling the rough edges. 

“Hunter! Come on! The movie’s starting. I want to see you watch people get chest-bursted,” Luz yelled through the door.

“Coming!”

He looked at the toilet, threw the tooth in, and, without anymore hesitation, flushed it down. He didn't need that anymore.