Starry Eyed Fighters

Chapter 7: The Library

Storming through the dark back alleys of Rehij Square, like a bat out of hell. Rex pulled along Belle, deliberately zigzagging between alleys to throw their pursuer off. "What—are running—from lad?" Belle barely articulates, still stuffed from just eating. Not regurgitating anything back, Rex continues to run in silence. "Hey—I'm talking to you—and let go—you're hurting my wrist—and you're going—way too fast," said Belle, losing her breath at his exceptional speeds. Reaching a long icy beam bridge, Rex slides to a stop in the middle of it.

In addition to the bridge, at a distance stood the silhouette of a tall tower like ice mountain. It's jagged silhouette seemed to pierce the dark Rehij city skies, making it appear as though it was reaching out to escape the odd dimension it found itself in.

Looking down at the 151-foot drop, Belle, worried about their situation, tries to break Rex's serious focus. Extremely agitated Belle says, "Oi, Rex, it takes two seconds to respond," waving her free hand at Rex's unresponsive face. "Are you considering us ju—?" Interrupting her spiel, to Belle's dismay, Rex jumps off the bridge while gripping her wrist. "Are you insane!" Yelled Belle. Beginning to conjure a spell with her free hand, Rex shushes her with his index finger to his lips. Free-falling still, Rex head bumps his wristwatch with his forehead. With a small burst of blue electricity, suddenly his watch transforms into a fraction of an electric paraglider. The paraglider was half the size of a normal one and half the noise. The two float the rest of the way down safely. Landing on the ground silently, on some soft snow under the bridge.

"You're on thin ice, Rex. What are we running from, and how the hell did you do that?" Belle would say in an irritated whispering voice, judging from Rex's stern expression. The paraglider conjured by Rex unexpectedly disappears out of existence like it was never there at all. In silence, Rex motions over for Belle to follow his lead, and as annoyed as she was, Belle follows suit.

Getting closer to the shady mountain, the tower gave off a ancient forbidden aura, far beyond the average mortal. A chill of not knowing what's to come ran down Belle's spine as she tiptoed along side the pointy white ice spikes on each side of the trail she followed Rex on.

Both tiptoe towards the tall tower-like mountain with the help of the trail and spikes, eventually leading them to a old French-style wooden door.
The old door unlike the rest of the mountain felt fairly normal despite its age and more welcoming, giving off a familiar warmth to Belle.

Taking out an old silver key to open the door, Rex says sympathetically, "I'm sorry about all that before, but I'll explain everything inside." With a click sound, the old wooden door creaked open from Rex's key. The warmth of the inside slips out, battling the cold. Nodding back at Rex with squinted suspicious eyes, Belle walks through the now-opened door.

Closing the door and locking it behind him, Rex would say with a sigh of relief, "Alright, we should be pretty safe for now; welcome to Rehij City Library though."
In wonder and delight, Belle is rejuvenated by her current setting, swirling around the place. Inside the mountain, across a long ice bridge, stood a huge library and repository. Dimly lit like Rehij city, the library, in its expansive array of books, had over a hundred floors with the stairs spinning upwards like a soft serve of ice cream. Across those stairs as well were small bridges crossing the center gap. The library was like no other, it's labyrinth like structure reached the ceiling almost infinitely as the books and shadows whispered secrets of its past.

"This library is amazing!" Belle would say, geeking out in approval, turning her gaze away from Rex. "I need to explore this library one day, but for now, let's get down to business, Rex," she would say, her face adjusting into a serious one. "Who the hell are we running from, and how did you do that with your watch?" said Belle, darting her attention at Rex with her arms raised above her head dramatically.