"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"The very back," Gaius replied without hesitation. "There are armchairs back there, nestled between some bookshelves, and nobody can see you or hear you. I was back there for three days straight once and worried Sara sick."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(You are absolutely right, that's literally what Ky did with Ruh)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Hahaha right? Oh, Ky… “hello mr 600 year old monster goat man, what’s your name? I made you a bracelet…” xD)
“Oh, gosh.” Ky had heard something about that before now, but somehow actually standing physically inside this Keep made it seem far more ominous for it to just swallow you for three days and no one be able to find you. Surely Sara had tasked servants with looking. Surely she’d looked herself. Ky would need to make sure she told Tadaaki any hiding spot she found, so she wouldn’t be tempted to vanish when she inevitably got upset.
It was going to be a long, long however many months. Not as long as if she’d been here for the war, though. She had to remind herself of that. That even 24 hours under Gaius as a slave would have been far worse than three months of it now. Now, at least, she could piss him off with reasonable certainty he wasn’t going to physically harm her if she did. Before, she had no such guarantee. Sure, everyone said he was merciful to slaves. But would he be merciful to spies? She doubted it. And that’s what she was meant to be.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(600 year old people eating goat monster: You know maybe it's time I rethought my life)
"I was not well," Gaius said with a wry smile. "They had to carry me out when they found me, but I was in the midst of a fascinating book about a missing Capran child and the efforts to find her."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Ky: I’m terrible tho. Aleth says I mean. I big mean.)
Ky cringed sympathetically. She nearly said she was impressed he could keep reading even while he was in a state he couldn’t physically stand. But she’d been there herself. Multiple times. From being denied food. Or blood loss. Though he always forced her to stay hydrated. Blood generated faster with l plenty of water to work with. “… was the ending worth it, at least?”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(Ruh: You're so nice that I stopped eating kids and remembered part of my name shut up and be good to yourself)
"I didn't finish it until the next morning, but absolutely." Gaius nodded. "I won't spoil it for you, but I was....conflicted." They arrived at the enormous ornate doors, which were carved with the sigils of each House, including the ones that had fallen. "Are you ready?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
The library was as long as ten rooms and as wide as nine, and everywhere you looked there were books and scrolls. They lined the walls in shelves and boxes, with elegant wooden ladders leaning against the tallest ones. In the middle of the room and stretching all the way back, the shelves formed a sort of maze as tall as the first level. Above were platforms ringing the edges of the room in two more levels, which could be reached by spiral staircases. These were all about ten feet wide and allowed the books at the middle and top of the rooms to be reached. The scrolls and maps were contained in gorgeous, colorful cylindrical boxes, which occupied neat, square cubbies specifically sized for each scroll. Many of them took up the front of the room, but they were also above and within the maze. An array of armchairs, desks, and tables were situated on either end of the front of the library and in the middle as well, but right in front of one of the entrances to the shelf maze was a massive snake skeleton coiled and suspended on a wooden display cube and a metal pole. It was about twelve feet long, with some ribs as long as a woman's forearm. Its jaw was closed but there were long, back-curving teeth visible.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky made it one step inside before what she was seeing struck her fully, but once it did, she stopped short and literally gaped, mouth hanging open and eyes wide as she took it all in. And, for the first time in her life, she was so happy she was speechless.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Gaius stood to the side with the door, watching her with a small smile on his face. He knew she'd be pleased.
A few of the librarians bustling about above and in visible space glanced over at Gaius and Ky. A couple dipped their heads to them but most carried on with their business, shelving books or taking them out, dusting, cataloguing, reordering, and so on.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky was vaguely aware of the librarians, but had forgotten Gaius entirely, brain still reeling by what she was seeing. She’d never seen a room this big in her entire life. Or as tall. Or as dense.
Gaius had every single book in the entire world in his possession.
Maybe not every single copy of every single book. But every single one that had ever been written was here, she was sure of it. She stepped forward slightly so she could crane her neck up to see if the platforms really went as high up as she thought — and they absolutely did.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Gaius stayed silent, this time to let her take in the sight and absorb it all. If she had questions, he had no doubt that this time she would ask them.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Oops! That was autocorrect, my bad. It was supposed to be ‘absolutely did’ and a period. She’s enthralled)
Her brain took a long, long moment to buffer before she realized she was gaping and snapped her jaw shut. It took an even longer moment to remember Gaius existed, but eventually her mind stopped reeling enough that she did remember, and she turned towards him with her eyes still slightly wide even as she tried to pretend they weren’t.
Her brain still didn’t work, though, so she had no words and instead just nodded to him, hoping he understood how much admiration of him and adoration of his collection she had.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Gaius chuckled. "If I had a pellet for every time I saw that expression in this library. You like it, then?'
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
