The metallic taste lingered in my mouth, sharp and unsettling, as I staggered to my feet. My head swam, trying to make sense of the rows upon rows of towering shelves that stretched beyond the horizon, filling the space with the musty, dry scent of aged paper and ink. Books, stacked and bound in faded leather and cloth, lined every shelf, dim and ominous. I didn't know where I was—or how I'd ended up here.
"Are you kidding me?" A voice sliced through my confusion, cutting and irritated. I turned to see a woman striding down one of the aisles. She glared at me like I was something scraped off the bottom of her boot. "We only just lost Jeremiah two days ago, and the library sent us a rookie already?"
The man beside her scoffed, crossing his arms. "Don't act like you cared about Jeremiah. You never even liked him," he snapped back.
"Fair." The woman gave a half-smirk and shrugged. "Jeremiah took his job way too seriously. Just like you, Noah."
"It's our sworn duty," he responded stiffly. "We are the final defence against Armageddon."
She rolled her eyes and threw up her hands mockingly. "Final defence against Armageddon, blah, blah, blah. Welcome to your new life, Not-Jeremiah." She gestured to the endless row of shelves. "Better get familiar with that. You're gonna be doing a whole lot of reading."
"What... what the hell is going on?" I murmured, rubbing my temples, trying to make sense of the place and their harsh words.
The man, Noah, sighed, his eyes filled with something that looked like weariness or maybe resignation. "Next time we get a new guardian, I'm bringing Athena with me." Then, after a pause, he turned back to me with a reluctant nod. "My name is Noah, and this is Cleo. Like you, we have been chosen as guardians of the Library of Alexandria."
"Guardians," Cleo snickered, waggling her fingers sarcastically. "Of all this Forbidden Knowledge. If it gets into the wrong hands, scary stuff happens, y'know."
She reached out a hand to help me up, offering me a mischievous grin that didn't quite meet her eyes. "So, what's your name, Not-Jeremiah?"
Noah sighed again, looking tired. "His name was Y/N, Cleo."
"I was never going to remember that," she shot back, turning to me. "Why does everyone have to have these grand names? Speaking of which, what's your name then?
The words caught in my throat. My name? The word felt heavy, fogged, slipping from my memory. Why couldn't I remember it? For a moment, I considered making something up, but then, like a whisper, it drifted back to me.
"Marisa."
****
The air around us crackled, dense with the energy of our attacks, lighting up the fading sky of Gensokyo. Each heartbeat sent a rush through my veins as I squared off against Marisa, watching her form hover in the broken sky, her gaze full of something between rage and sorrow. She looked like she wanted to say something like she was on the verge of pleading—but she held back, and I wasn't sure if that hurt or empowered me more. I steadied myself, my knuckles white around the Forbidden Tome. This would be the final battle, and I couldn't afford hesitation. Not now.
Marisa didn't hesitate either. She shot forward, her hand reaching back to draw her Mini Hakkero, and in an instant, she unleashed a blinding flurry of danmaku, her colours streaking like stars across the fading twilight. I dodged, my body moving on instinct as I retaliated, each spell card exploding in a surge of light and force. We clashed in midair, the ground below us cracking and scattering as the shockwaves of our spells battered the landscape.
She didn't hold back—neither did I.
Our spell cards collided like wildfire, the force pushing us back before we dove in again. Sparks flashed through the haze as we traded attacks, each moment feeling like an eternity. I summoned waves of talismans, and Marisa deflected each one with the precision and fury I'd known her for, her figure flashing past in a swirl of gold and silver. But every time she countered, I was right there with another attack, refusing to give her even a second to breathe. It was exhilarating, terrifying, heartbreaking—all of it in one. But there was no time to dwell on the past; there was only the fight.
YOU ARE READING
Forbidden Knowledge Vol.1 (Marisa Kirisame X Male Reader)
FanfictionY/N awoke centuries ago in the endless corridors of the Lost Library of Alexandria, a mystical archive that houses every book ever written and those yet to be. As the Last Librarian, his purpose is clear: protect the library's secrets, especially th...
