The Time Capsule

Chapter Ten.

        Nadia stepped into the local library, shaking with nerves. 'What am I thinking? I shouldn't be talking to other Loopers. Fate might see. Or did Fate bring us all together? Or Roman Adair might see. Or the High Council might s- Stop it, Nadia. You are going to see them, whether anyone likes it or not.'
        The library was what you might expect of any local library: It had large columns, a curved roof, and books piled high in alphabetical order. The one thing that made people stop and stare was that taxidermy was everywhere. No joke. Animal heads from every part of the world littered the walls. The only walls that weren't covered up with animals were the large stained glass windows.
       Nooks and crannies were covering the floor. Tables with pillows for chairs, tall circular tables with booth stools, couches, and loveseats... it was a very comfortable place. The library even had a small minifridge that stocked water bottles and tiny sugar-free sodas, just in case someone spilled on a book.
           In the center of the room was a spiraling staircase going down into the basement. The basement was a dark and dreary place with very few lights, only dusty windows and just enough lamps to illuminate the pages of books. A few sparse tables with pillows were available to sit on, but the main focus was on the books: Bookshelves that were floor to ceiling in height towered over anyone who descended into this place. Books that looked like they had never been checked out were usually at the very top. A rusty old ladder with wheels was in a corner, looking like it had been out of use for longer than the books on the top shelf.
           Nadia climbed down the stairs and into the dark depths of the basement. Leonardo and Piper were waiting for her, sitting on pillows in the farthest area from peoples' notice. She tentatively walked over to them, sitting slowly down on a faded old orange pillow.
         "Hi." She whispered, worried Fate or anyone else might notice.
         "Hello." Piper spoke up, worry flashing across her features. They all began to speak at once: "How did you get stuck?" and,
        "How long have you been here?" and,
          "How did you guys meet?". Things like that.
         Silence descended over the group, waiting for the first person to answer a question.
         "I have been stuck in this time loop for 2 years and 3 months." Leonardo muttered, looking down angrily.
          Piper sighed. "1 year and 9 months."
         "How?-" Nadia let the question hang in the air. "I've been here for just under a year. How have you managed to be stuck here for so long?"
           The two strangers glanced at each other, looking sad. "We've tried to figure that out, and so far... no luck. You?"
        "Wait! You said you know the Keeper of Time. What has he told you?" Nadia queried.
        "Well... He hasn't exactly been the kindest to us. He doesn't know we're friends." Leonardo gestured to Piper.
           "But... you guys have both been stuck? Waking up at 5:00? Resetting at 3:30?"
        The two nodded. "Roman Adair has made an agreement with me. He'll help me figure out a way to escape." 'I don't trust them yet. I won't tell them about my plan-I already did. They remember things in the loop. Great...'
           "In exchange, I find him an apprentice. However, that task led me to you two. Fate must have brought us together. Except... Fate wouldn't want us to meet. So... how?" Nadia was mumbling to herself.
           "Fate? What do you mean? And Roman Adair? Is that the Keeper of Time's name? He's never told us his name. Odd..."
          Nadia tilted her head. "Really? Why doesn't he like you guys? Did you make him angry?"
       They looked at each other again. "Well... we tried to trick him into telling us how to escape. He got angry and swore to never help us because of our deception." Piper crossed her arms. "So we've been stuck here."
            "Why would you try to deceive him? He just wants to help." She remembered when he had gotten so angry at her after mentioning interacting with other Loopers. She shuddered. "Sometimes."
          "That's the thing. We think he's the one that's the problem. You're talking about Fate like it's a person? And you think the Keeper of Time is good? He'll never help us escape. We'll never age, never grow up, never live our lives... we're stuck in this loop forever. Because of him. How can you be so gracious?"
           "He's shown me kindness. He's tried to help me escape, so Fate and the High Council won't notice me."
            Leonardo's eyebrows narrowed. "The High Council? And... you said you've been in here for almost a year? What has he done to actually make progress and help you escape?"
          Nadia thought back to their conversation: She asked him almost that exact question, and he got enraged. Maybe they were right... maybe she couldn't trust him. But how could she not trust him? He was her only tie to get out of the loop. She couldn't give up hope.
            "He's not evil. He promised that he had no ill will towards me. And it wasn't his fault that he didn't break you out of the loop. You were the ones that deceived the literal Keeper of Time. Maybe you should show him some respect. He's thousands of years old!" Nadia gritted her teeth, anger rising in her lungs.
           "What? You're taking his side? You don't even know him!" Piper yelled.
            "I know him better than I know the two of you. Don't you find it odd that I ran into you the day that I was trying to find you? Did you orchestrate that? Or am I just crazy? So many people are out to get me, and I want to escape this cursed place. The only person I can trust is an immortal being who may or may not be morally gray. I can't give up hope. I won't."
            Nadia stood up, glaring at them and ascending the stairs. She decided to stop and look at some books, something to get her mind off of the situation. Finding a thriller novel with a Chupacabra on it (which is always good), she opened it up, examining it to decide if it was worthy to her standards.
          "Chupacabras? Who knew? I prefer Kelpies myself." Roman Adair stood beside her, now with tanned skin and bright blue hair that was braided. It reminded her of what an elf's hair might look like. He was holding an Irish mythology book with disinterest.
           "I see you went against the law.
You even spoke to other Loopers. What did I say? Life or death. Or something worse. Apparently, you don't care."
            Nadia swallowed, a bit terrified but acting nonchalant. "They turned out to be deceitful debbie downers. I defended your honor, by the way. I didn't even mean to meet another Looper. Actually... maybe. But I stumbled upon them by accident. I even spilled coffee on Leonardo and met Piper and Leonardo at a library. Bad choices. I know. But they said you swore to never help them escape? Seriously?" Nadia was rambling, and she knew it.
            "Thank you for defending my honor, but I'm not joking. You disobeyed the law. The consequences you might suffer because of this... I will not be able to help you. The only thing I can offer you is this. Just in case they haven't found out about your indiscretions and you will go behind my back and the High Councils' again." He handed her a silver bracelet that had strange runes on it. In the center of the bracelet, there was a glowing black gem.
        "When you touch the gem, you will be invisible to the High Council and Fate for an hour at a time. You can only use it once a day. I cannot offer you anything else. This would land me in serious trouble if they found out... Goodbye."
          "Wait. Did they mean what they said? Are you actually against me? Do you have ill will towards me? Because if you do..." Nadia's eyes darkened with slowly ascending rage.
          "No. I do not. The High Council will be against you if you continue your mortal errands. Now, wear the bracelet, don't cause a fuss, and I will see to an escape for you."
           She nodded. "Thank you." And with that, the Keeper of Time disappeared. Nadia set the book back on the shelf, walking out the doors of the library with an unsteady determination. 'Maybe I can trust him. Maybe I can't. But so far, Piper and Leonardo are not looking like good people to me. I'll investigate further.'
              As her boots stepped down from the last stair, her arms were grabbed and cuffed with glowing rune bracelets. Five heavily armored...-knights? Is the only thing she could call them-held up a scroll. "By order of the High Council, you, Nadia Wolfe, have been sentenced to trial by jury for your crimes against the law." Her last thoughts as a hood was pulled over her head were, 'Oh no. I'm a goner.'