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The Disappearing Library

You decide to ORGANIZE YOUR NOTES BY STORY, which means tearing apart the notebook and putting things into piles. It's going to be a very, very long night, but it's worth it. The Library Demon seems much happier, and the Disappearing Library itself has stopped sagging and leaning. The lights are all bright and the fires heat the whole place. Everyone else seems happier, too, now that they're not fighting against the bookshelves.

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You spend a long time in the Library, dozing off as you read and try to piece together what you can. The Library Demon drops off tea and coffee a couple of times, and even makes you a little snack, though you never catch them doing it. The treats are accompanied by sticky notes written in gold glitter pen, though, encouraging you to keep going.

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After yet another ten-minute nap, you wake up with a start. You look around, but you're not in the Disappearing Library anymore. It's dark, but much darker than the Void was. This is something else. You smell ash and the remnants of a fire somewhere. You hear nothing. Honestly, you're too afraid to move from your makeshift desk.

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Then, two red eyes open in front of you like lights. It's the Ledger demon, though you can't see the rest of him.

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"Miss me, Little Summoner?" he says, though you're not sure if it's him or something else in the darkness. "You try so hard to research, so hard to understand."

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"We trusted you," you say.

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"You can still trust me," he says, his voice changed a little. It's silkier, lighter somehow. It feels good to listen to it. "I do my duty while in this body. I keep your records and have a wonderful time living in this physical plane. Your little Library Demon is so fun and entertaining. I like them quite a lot. I like your Sage Ogawa and Alfie Flowers, and all the other summoners who came before them."

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There is a wide, toothy smile that appears, and then hundreds of eyes open all around you.

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"You cannot know us," countless voices say in unison. "You cannot. You cannot. You CANNOT."

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You place your hands over your ears. It hurts to hear them.

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"Forget what you have seen. Forget what you have heard. Knowledge is never the enemy, but if you continue down this path even we cannot save you."

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"Then why did you come here?" you ask.

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"Bored," they say. "So very, very bored. Mortals are just so... FUN."

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There is laughter that echoes in the... well, wherever you are. The eyes go away, and eventually the laughter fades. It's just the single pair of eyes now.

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"I will keep your notes," it says. "Do not come seeking us again. Tell the Library Demon I will be back if they will have me. I miss their stories and the company. I enjoy being their friend."

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The eyes and mouth disappear into the blackness, and suddenly the Disappearing Library fades back into view. The heat and sound and texture of it all comes back slowly, and you feel the Library Demon pulling at your clothes to try to snap you out of it.

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"OH THANK GOODNESS!" they cry. "You've been staring at nothing for an hour!!"

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You can feel that. Your eyes are so dry and crusty and you just want to dunk your eyes in some water. You close your eyes and start to tell the Library Demon about what happened. They are very quiet through the whole thing, but they dutifully listen.

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"I don't know," they say. "I shall have to think on it. It's hard to trust a friend after they've betrayed you like that... lied about who they are."

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You nod, but encourage them to consider working through it. You can see they really had a friendship, but you also understand that trust, once lost, is hard to recover. Whatever they decide, you'll always be there for them, and you hope for the best.

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In the meantime, you really wish you could have kept all your notes. You felt like you were just on the cusp of something important! Maybe, instead of writing it all down in notes, you could create something that encompasses what you remember the Library Demon telling you...?

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Challenge 5:

Create a cosmic horror creature of your own

and tell us a little about it

This concludes your search.
You now have all 5 challenges at your disposal


Have you visited the Void yet for your prompts?
 

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