The Dragon Stone ↣ Riven ↢

31: That's What Friends Are For

"Easy baby, maybe I'm a liar but for tonight I wanna fall in love"

The halls of the castle were quiet and empty as Rose wended her way from her dorm to the library. It had everything to do with the fact that all students had the afternoon off and the weather outside was warm and sunny. No one wanted to spend their free time inside. No one, except Rose.

The pleasant sound of bubbly laughter coming from outside caught her attention and she exhaled softly as she cast a glance out the window while walking by. It's not like Rose didn't want to go out and have fun but lately, fun had lost all meaning. She just couldn't enjoy herself and she was probably a nightmare to be around anyway. She was constantly dealing with a persistent restlessness that kept gnawing at her, reminding her that something strange was going on and telling her to do something about it. It made her irritable and the last thing she wanted was to constantly be snapping at the people she cared about the most.

The only way to get rid of the annoying feeling was to give in to it. So here she was, opening one of the heavy doors leading into the library. It was all but deserted except for the always smiling miss Barbatea and it was exactly what Rose needed.

The familiar waft of paper and wood welcomed her as she made for the back. Over the last few days, it had become her safe space. A spot for her to do her research on whatever was happening around - or to - her without prying eyes and difficult questions she couldn't answer. Yet. She couldn't answer yet. Because she was definitely going to get to the bottom of this.

Part of her felt bad for choosing to spend all of her free time skimming through old books in hopes of discovering something, anything, that could help her better understand her craving for power instead of spending time with her friends. And Riven. She hadn't even seen him since the night he slept over at her dorm last week.

Rose missed them, she did. But it seemed like each and every one of her emotions was overpowered by a little voice inside her head telling her to obtain more power. Urging her to. And she was too ashamed to share that part of her with her friends or even with Riven. It made her feel lonely at times, but she told herself it would all get better once she'd get some answers.

It didn't bring her that much comfort, but there was also a bright side; her training was going better than ever. She was in complete control of her magic and her fire burned so fierce that it surprised her she hadn't set herself on fire yet.

Rose let her hand trace over the backs of a few books as she walked along the shelves. She was looking for a specific book and she was sure it was supposed to be in this section, but after searching for a few more minutes, checking all of them, she let out a frustrated groan.

"How can it not be here?'' She grumbled under her breath as a few profanities ran through her head, but she didn't have time to sulk for long as an unexpected sound made her jump and whirl.

The hairs on her arms had risen and she barely managed to swallow down the scream that was building in her throat. She chided herself softly for being stupid, this was the library, not some battlefield but her senses were still on high alert and the seconds ticked by as she listened intently.

As nothing happened, she told herself she was just imagining things. She was wrong though, and she knew it the moment the lights around her started flickering. A low hum could be heard, along with some buzzing and Rose turned around just in time to see Beatrix appearing from somewhere behind a bookcase.

"Looking for this one?"

She wore a sly smile on her face as she held up an old looking, red leather book. The words on the cover had faded a little, the once golden symbols now a muddy bronze, but they were still legible.