Chapter 6 - Nyssa

Chapter 6 Nyssa

No matter how much I wanted to trust these story spirits, each step I took following Lisa filled me with dread. What kind of book character would be powerful enough to manage them? I doubted they’d put anyone in charge who couldn’t handle that golem and the dragons. To do all that, they must be a great warrior or a sorcerer. Maybe even a god.

I shuddered. I’d read so many books about gods and magical beasts, but had never really considered what it would be like meeting them in person. How was I supposed to run a library filled with story spirits that would terrify half the visitors just by existing?

Roan moved closer to me, leaning in to whisper. “The moment you don’t feel safe, let me know. I’ll get you out of here no matter what.”

I studied him carefully, from his sword to the confident way he held himself. “You really would wrangle all these stories for me, wouldn’t you?”

“Without a second thought,” he said, staring at me with an intensity I wasn’t accustomed to. “But that’s not like any story I’ve ever seen.” He nodded at the golem. “That, Miss Librarian, is a giant.”

I smiled and shook my head. “I’ll explain later.”

Roan looked like the kind of man who wouldn’t let you down, who wouldn’t stop until the job was done. So what exactly was he doing here? Did he have a mission I didn’t know about? Or did he come back for...me?

“We’re here,” Lisa said as she paused outside a conference room. “Are you ready?”

That didn’t really matter. I’d walk in there, ready or not. I had to. I took a deep breath, and after one last look at Roan, I strode inside the room, blinking as the evening sun shone through the few intact windows.

“You again,” a familiar growly voice said from across the room. “I thought I told you to leave.”

Oh no, not the demon who’d kicked me out earlier. Anyone but him. I was about to plead my case, but an adorable, fluffy red panda caught my eye. He was sitting on a chair like a human, drinking bubble tea of all things.

“He’s so —”

“Don’t say it,” the demon commanded. “Mochi is not a pet. He’s in charge here.”

I bit my lip, trying not to laugh at a demon calling a cute red panda Mochi. This was not what I’d expected at all when I walked into this room. How was I even supposed to reason with a panda? Give him food and hope he liked me?

Mochi chittered adorably while Lisa took a chair beside him.

The demon rolled his eyes and joined them too. “Mochi wants you to sit down,” he grumbled. “I’m apparently not allowed to throw you out yet.”

Roan and I glanced at each other before he answered. “So, you can understand the panda?”

“Of course I can,” the demon snapped. “Can’t you?”

I leaned closer as Mochi chittered with Lisa about something, she nodded and smiled, but it all just sounded like panda talk to me. He took a sip of his tea, rocking back and forth in his chair like he was having a great time. Well, at least he seemed happy. That had to be good for me.

“No, but we can make this work,” I said, sitting down across from them. “Hello, Mochi, my name’s Nyssa. I’m a librarian sent here to revitalize the Misty Mountain Library. I’ll repair anything that needs repairing and breathe new life into the grounds so we can reopen the doors to the public. Does that sound good to you?”

Mochi munched on a piece of boba, then squawked at us a few times.

“He wants to know why you’re here now,” Lisa translated. “It’s been years since the old librarians abandoned this library, giving up after the wild magic storm. Nobody’s come back here since.”

“Well, everyone was waiting for the library to heal itself.” I paused whenthe demon’s glare hardened, “but that’s not a good excuse. I had to wait for an endowment so I’d have the money to do the repairs.”

The demon leaned back in his chair slightly. Phew. Saved myself there. Demons were a tough crowd.

“And you couldn’t visit?” Lisa asked. “Not even once in those long years since you were here last?”

“How did you know I’d been here before?” I frowned. “Did I mention that?”

Mochi slurped the last of his tea and scurried off his chair to hop in Roan’s lap. He stood up, paws on Roan’s shoulders, inspecting him. Roan didn’t move, didn’t even flinch.

“Mochi wants to know what he’s doing here,” Lisa said. “We’ve had...bad experiences with other adventurers. Is he going to harm us?”

“No, of course not!” I stared at Roan. “Right?”

He held his hands up. “As long as nobody hurts us, I won’t do a thing.”

“See? All good,” I said, wringing my hands. “Does that mean I can stay?”

The demon laughed. “You really think it’s that easy? You just show up and think you can take over? Humans are the worst.”

“You did abandon this library,” Lisa said. “How do we know you won’t do it again?”

Fair question, but it wasn’t one I had an answer to. How could I prove myself when I didn’t know what the future would hold? All I could do was reassure them that I wanted to be here. Desperately.

“You’ve already thrown me out once and it didn’t stick,” I said. “I’ll just keep coming back, no matter what you do to me. I love this library and now that I’m back, I’m not leaving it again. I want to make it like it was before, full of magic and people reading. Isn’t that what you want too?”

The three exchanged wary glances. Was I wrong? Did they want something else?

“People bring nothing but problems,” the demon said, crossing his arms over his chest. “We’re doing fine on our own. We don’t need you.”

“Look around, the library’s crumbling,” I said softly. “Without patrons, it’ll never get the story gods’ blessing again and it will fade away. I’m sure you don’t want that.”

Mochi hopped off Roan’s lap, looking downcast. His chitters were quieter as he laid down by Lisa. She patted his head softly. “Sometimes fading away is less painful than being rejected. Can you promise people won’t abandon the library again if you manage to get them back?”

“Well, no, but you can’t seriously be considering just letting the library fade away. What happens to you then?”

The demon shrugged. “We’ll go back in our books like we do each night to rest and it’ll be like we were never here.”

I gripped the edges of my chair, swallowing hard. They couldn’t really be okay with that, could they? I’d just met them, but the idea of them disappearing already bothered me. They were part of the library. My library.

“No, I don’t accept that,” I said firmly. “I won’t let you give up on this library so easily. You have nothing to lose by letting me try to renovate it. I’ve already got a few ideas to make it more popular too, but you need to let me try.”

“Oh?” Lisa leaned forward. “What ideas are those?”

“Well, this library is kind of hard to get to,” I said. “It took Roan and I almost an hour to climb the mountain, so that’s one of the reasons people choose the library in town instead. If we can fix that, we’ll be able to get more people here.”

Lisa and the panda nodded, reassuring me that I was on the right track, even though the demon continued to glare.

“To help with that,” I said, “we need to make this library more of a destination location. The place everyone wants to go to no matter how far away it is. Like it’s an experience more than just a library.”

Roan leaned closer to whisper. “A destination location? Have you seen this place?”

“I want to not only repair it,” I continued, ignoring Roan’s and the demon’s doubts, “but improve it. Add some cozy touches and amenities that other, newer, libraries have. We can think on it together if you want.”

Mochi rolled over, wiggling happily as Lisa smiled. “Mochi says he’s willing to give you a chance. He’ll bring the snacks.”

Yes! One down, two to go.

The demon groaned. “Mochi, how could you give into her so easily?”

“Maybe because he loves this library,” I said.

“Love means different things to different people.” He glared at us. “We just want to live our lives in peace until the library is gone. That’s why we’re here. So, I vote no.”

My stomach dropped. Demon or not, how could he want that? I turned to Lisa, smiling with as much warmth as I could muster.

“Well, I vote for her to stay,” Lisa said. “She’s got good ideas and I’m not ready to give up yet. At least let her try.”

I would have jumped for joy if the demon wasn’t gripping his chair so hard I thought he might break the arms of it. Was two votes enough? Or was it an all or nothing kind of thing?

The silence in the room had me at the edge of my seat as the demon dragged his answer out, toying with me. The sun dipped beneath the horizon, casting shadows over his face and making him even more intimidating until the sun globes turned on.

“Why don’t you leave”—the demon paused ominously, making my stomach tighten—”for today. It’s getting late and I’ve been outvoted, so you’ll be welcomed back.”

“No way,” I said, jumping out of my chair to stare him down. “It took me a whole day to get back inside last time. I’m not leaving, not even for a night!”

Roan cleared his throat. “So, does that mean you’re sleeping here?”

“You bet I am.”

The demon’s lips curled up a tiny bit, almost like he was impressed by my tenacity. Or it was my imagination and he was actually disgusted with me.

“Then I’m staying too,” Roan said, keeping a watchful eye on the others. “Can’t let you get in trouble by yourself.”

Mochi trotted over to us, holding wrapped sandwiches and drinks in his little paws. He dropped them in front of us, tilting his head back and forth. I glanced at Lisa, and she nodded, so I carefully pet his head. His fur was soft, smoother than any animal’s I’d ever touched. Almost silken. He purred, nuzzling into my hand for a moment before walking back to Lisa.

“He didn’t want you to be hungry,” she said.

That was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen.

“Where did he get the food though?” I asked.

The demon shrugged. “He always has something.”

Interesting. Maybe they could pull things from their books? I’d have to ask Oren, see what he thought. Maybe he’d found something about the tree’s magic in his research by now too. I picked the food and drinks up, following Lisa outside to a spiral staircase.

“There’s a caretaker’s room upstairs you can use. Try not to have too much fun,” she said with a wink.

“Thank you.”

I’d managed to convince them to let me stay for today, but tomorrow was another story. Determination strengthened my legs as I climbed the spiral staircase. My dream was finally in reach. I was really doing this. I was really going to reopen the library I’d loved so much as a child.

Tomorrow was the first day of my new adventure as a Misty Mountain librarian.