Queen Of The Ventils

XXI

"I just don't get it," Douxie sighed, collapsing on a beanbag and letting his copy of a tome fly across the room. Once we'd made it back to the bookstore, we'd wasted no time in beginning the search for a spell that could help Lunalis. Claire and Jim were browsing in the Mystery section, where Archie kept his books on shadow magic kept on a hidden shelf.

Toby was flipping through the pages, barely skimming the spells before tossing it in the growing mountain of literature sitting behind him. I was sitting by Toby's side, grabbing the books he'd carelessly skimmed and searching through them more in-depth. Steve had collapsed after ten pages and was snoring with a heavy copy of Charlotte's Web over his face.

Archie was flying around the room, occasionally pulling out a book, checking the title, before either taking it back to his pile of scripts or tossing it around the room haphazardly. Nari was right behind him, following his example. I think we spent more time dodging hardcover novels than actually searching.

Lunalis was tracing her fingers over the spines of the books, sadly unable to read them, but she spent her time sorting through the books and putting them back where they had originally come from with bursts of magenta magic.

"We've searched the whole store, and still nothing!" Douxie groaned. "We might as well call it a day and go home. We've got school tomorrow anyways."
"I guess," I sighed, tossing the book I was holding to Lunalis, who caught it with ease.

"I just don't understand why there isn't a single book about mind control or possession anywhere," Claire said exasperatedly, throwing down a black book with silver moon decals at Lunalis' feet. "I mean, that kinda goes into the category of 'Black Magic', right?"

"Well, yes," Archie admitted, dropping a book into his mountain before alighting on the armrest of a plush armchair. "Though technically, mind control and possession aren't really 'shadow magic'. They're simply spells people find as morally 'evil'."

"It still doesn't explain why we can't find any, even outside the shadowy section," Jim sighed, sinking into the chair Archie was on. "Perhaps it requires the mirror room," Nari suggested, setting more books cradled in her arms by Archie's tower. "What's a mirror room?" Lunalis asked.

"A mirror room is a room but...mirrored," Douxie explained. "It's like a reflection of a certain place, but in a small pocket dimension, with a few changes. We happen to have one here, in the back behind the curtain. It's where we keep our most powerful items and treasures."

"Why haven't we been searching there, then, if that's where everything important is?" Lunalis asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because-" Douxie faltered. Because we don't want you to grow even more powerful and go on a rampage again. It was clear everyone else was thinking the same thing. Even a small part of my mind was doubtful whether or not to share the secrets of the bookstore with her. But, a larger part of my mind was tired of getting nowhere, so I stood.

"Come on, you guys. Lunalis trusted us with her secret. The least we could do is trust her a little," I said, offering her a hand. This time, she didn't hesitate and accepted it, and she let me pull her to her feet. "What's the worst that could happen?" Everyone gave me a look. "Too soon, dude," Toby said flatly.

"Way too soon," Jim agreed, standing. "But we're out of options, and it's Sunday. Tomorrow, we're going back to school, and we won't be able to spend as much time here."
"And even the three of us can't read through an entire bookstore alone," Archie agreed, curled up in the armchair, a book already open in front of him.

"So we search the mirror room, then?" Douxie asked. We all nodded. We woke up Steve by having Lunalis dropping an extremely thick copy of War and Peace onto his chest, and proceeded to tell him the plan. Once he shook off his grogginess, Archie grabbed the book with the key and we all followed him behind the curtain as he turned the lock embedded in the satyr horns.