Chapter 15

            “You’re alive!” Claris exclaimed, wrapping Acacia and Annice in what was probably the tightest hug in Dyia. Lifea had started to trust Acacia after she told her what happened with Gullen, and ‘released’ Annice and Claris.

            She had also allowed the three of them—and Bloome—to follow her to Elvina’s Royal Library. Annice—being the know-it-all of their group—explained that Elvina was the elves ruler, the first elf empress ever. Her library was taken care of by Emperor Aelfric, the empress’s last living descendant.

            The royal library could only be accessed by elven chiefs and heirs. In special instances came the rare granting of someone that wasn’t an elf into the library, and Lifea had managed to convince Aelfric to make three exceptions.

            “So, what kind of books are there in the library?” Acacia asked, wondering how a royal library looked like. Tall and immaculate? Neat and organized? “All kinds of books. I know there are a handful about teleportals and Solarks, plus a few on Scalers and animals. Maybe even scrolls that Gaia and Dyia, the two sisters who created this universe, wrote centuries ago,” Lifea shrugged.

            Claris muttered something that sounded like, “way too many things to read,” and dragged her feet forward. They were walking through Lifea’s (or so she claimed) palace, which had seven, twisted golden towers, matched perfectly with several dome ceilings and the cold, marble floor. Basically, her palace was a miniature version of her father—Chief Lucious’s— mansion.

            Once they exited through the main, varnished wooden door, Acacia felt her jaw go slack. Although the insides of Lifea and Lucious’s castles were impeccable, but Sunhilde was amazing. The ground wasn’t dirt and soil, and were instead grey stones cut and set without any cracks around the town centre.

            A large, marble water fountain spewed water out from its sweeping, gold choco-coa-like fountain. Short, bungalows lined the streets, and some shops led to an open market selling fruits and flowers. Elves went around their daily lives and routines, unaware of the three magipeople and elven royalty in their midst.

       “This is awesome,” Claris choked out. Bloome and Lifea glanced smugly at Annice and Acacia, probably showing off the beautiful, astounding town. “This way.” Lifea gestured for everyone to follow her as she strolled casually to the water fountain.

            The blue-tinted water sparkled in the sunlight, shining even brighter with the additional light from the golden fountain. The water split into four streams and crashed into the pool below, splashing Acacia, Annice, Claris, Bloome and Lifea with droplets of water.

            “Is this clean?” Annice stuck her finger into the water. “Yeah. And that’s not the best part. Lifea, show them,” Bloome grinned. Lifea curtsied mockingly and placed a golden coin on the topmost section of the fountain. Machinery whirred to life as the water stopped running and the golden fountain spun a semicircle.

            Things grinded together loudly, and the coin flipped to face the pool, reflecting a teleportal in front of Lifea. “Whoa,” Acacia breathed. This was cool. And pretty old, because of all the rusty machinery sounds coming from inside the golden fountain as something locked into place, and the teleportal glowed eerily.

            All teleportals and Solarks had a background of the starry galaxy sky, the only difference between the portals being the colour of electricity that fizzed along the edges of the portal. Teleportals usually had white electricity, but this one sparked with yellow.

            “C’mon, what’re you waiting for?” Lifea teased as she stepped into the galaxy-sky teleportal and vanished. Claris jumped in eagerly, with Bloome hot on her heels. Acacia hung back, unsure about . . . well, everything. She was just a normal Dyian girl in school, on a field trip. Why had this happened to her? All this mystery and the way her body had readily accepted the venom from Gullen’s stab.

            Sighing, she grabbed Annice’s hand and dragged both of them into the teleportal, which sealed shut immediately. Yet not before a blurry form charged into the portal.

                                                        zvzvzvzvzv

            Acacia hadn’t been sure what exactly to brace for when she walked out of the teleportal, but there were no words for the scene before her eyes. The elves were known for their wealth and pine for beautiful and decorative things. And Acacia couldn’t help but think that Empress Elvina had begun that cycle.

            A cascading waterfall had an ambient air around it, mostly because of the pebbles and rocks in the clear, the flowing stream, and the giant willow tree that drooped over the water.

            Short, expertly cut grass paved the way along the footpath to the library, sandwiched between two rows of perfectly styled bushes in shapes of books, fairies, witches, or angels. Fresh air was blown in by the gentle breeze, and Acacia wanted to stay basking in the relaxing luxury, but there were more important things to do.

       “Okay, this is the most overwhelming part of your special permission tour,” Lifea warned as they rounded a turn around a tree. Aaaand Acacia’s lower mouth was grazing the ground with awe.

            A twenty-story tall, red building intimidated almost everything around it, with the golden, swirling patterns on its walls, the glass windows and billions of shelves filled with books behind them, the silky velvet curtains, rounded main door, and enormous dome on the roof. The dome had golden grills—like every elven dome had. The short grass flattened into a cobblestone path as Claris, Acacia and Annice gaped at the royal library.

            The sheer size of it was shocking enough. Match that with the royal library’s inside and you had the flawless, most exquisite picture on Dyia possible. A rough magenta carpet covered every inch of floor in the library, ending at the slightly darker shade of white walls, light brown shelves, and the amazing glass panes that overlooked the ocean.

            Half the building was in the water, Lifea had explained, and the basement floors underwater was for the visiting mermaids, sirens or seaghosts. The first floor’s shelves lined the walls, and furniture like tables and chairs were placed neatly in the middle.

            The second story was more of a balcony, since the middle of the level was cut out, identical to the third story. The second story’s shelves touched the ceiling, and two spiralling flights of stairs twisted their way up there. The third’s shelves were shorter and simpler, and both levels had lamps placed at the ends of each shelf.

            “We’re going to have to search all this?” Claris seemed sceptical. She also didn’t see the tower of stairs that led to the seventeen stories above, more focused on the books and giant crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling, brightening all three floors. Everyone stared at the amount of reading surely to come.

            “Well, let’s get started,” Bloome suggested.

            Suddenly, a smudged shape tackled him, and he dropped to the floor.