Bloody Dawn - MCD AU [REWRITE PENDING]

Two - Moving On...

Clang!

Aphmau's sword hit Katelyn's silver wings as the GuardWing blocked Aphmau's attack.

"One... more... time..." Aphmau said, panting.

"Too... tired... please... can't take... anymore..." Katelyn huffed.

"Fine... I guess... that's it... for... today..." Aphmau rasped, collapsing along with Katelyn.

As the pair watched the clouds pass by in silence, a soft breeze ruffled through the trees.

"The Aether sure is beautiful." Katelyn said wistfully.

Aphmau stared at the clouds. "Yeah, but..."

Katelyn sat up, staring at Aphmau. "You're not thinking of the Overworld, are you? You know it's impossible for angels to leave the Aether."

"I know..." Aphmau said. "It's just... ya'know... the stories and legends... the freedom and beauty..."

Aphmau sat up. "I even found an old portal." She said, staring towards the horizon.

"What?!"

"You're the only person I've told, but I found the glowstone frame for an Aether portal. Not sure how to activate it, though." Aphmau said, a glimmer in her eyes.

Katelyn stared at her. "I have an idea of who'd know how to activate it."

"You mean Emmalyn, the BookWing?" Aphmau asked. Katelyn nodded.

Together, the pair flew back to the castle. Swooping around towers, the pair spiraled to the royal library.

Inside, among the many shelves of books, Emmalyn flitted around on her small wings, using BookWing magic to move books from one shelf to the other. A few other angels were quietly reading books by themselves, but other than that, the library was rather empty.

"Emmalyn!" Aphmau whispered as she flew over to the overworked BookWing. Emmalyn squeaked in surprise, and her concentration diverted, the books she had been reorganizing fell with her, landing on the floor with an audible thud.

Emmalyn stood up and brushed herself up, then returned to reorganizing. Using her BookWing magic, Emmalyn flew into the air and began to manually reorganizing the books. "Give me a minute." She whispered, slightly annoyed.

Katelyn face palmed, embarrassed over Aphmau's outburst. Aphmau looked at Katelyn blankly, and Katelyn pointed towards a large sign over the library entrance.

Rule #352 - Be quiet in the library at ALL times.
Rule #353 - Refrain from interfering with a BookWing's tasks.
Rule #354 - Respect and remember a BookWing's personal space-they get just as much as everyangel else!

"Oh." Aphmau whispered, as she backed away from Emmalyn, who was just putting the last few books away.

"Okay. How can I help you, Princess?" Emmalyn asked in the cheery voice every librarian should have.

Aphmau was about to speak, but Katelyn, glancing at the other angels in the library, asked, "Can we talk about it in your office?"

Emmalyn glanced at the other angels and nodded. She led Aphmau and Katelyn past several shelves to her private office-where "forbidden" books were stored.

"So what is it you two needed?" Emmalyn asked.

"Don't tell anyone about this..." Aphmau started. "But a found an old portal frame, completely intact."

"A portal frame?! To what realm?!" Emmalyn asked in excitement.

"The Overworld, I think. I'm not sure. But it's made of glowstone, and there was a chest next to it with a bucket inside." Aphmau said. "I was hoping you might know how to activate it."

Emmalyn beamed, and said, "I'm sure I've got something in here! Let me see!" She began to dig through the stacks of books in her office.

While Emmalyn was busy searching, Katelyn dragged Aphmau over to a quiet, empty corner. "You couldn't have just asked for a book on portals?!"

Aphmau looked at Katelyn. "Nope. Emmalyn would've asked what we needed it for."

Katelyn sighed. "I know that. But did you have to tell her about the portal outright?"

Aphmau stared at Katelyn. "Found it!" Emmalyn chirped. Katelyn gave Aphmau a very stern look before the pair walked over to Emmalyn.

The BookWing was holding a very large tomb, covered in dust. Emmalyn set the book down on a nearby desk.

Aphmau read the title aloud. "Guide to the Aether. By someone called-"

"This was written by a mortal!" Katelyn exclaimed, cutting Aphmau off.

"I know." Emmalyn said, flipping through the old, musty yellowed pages. "It's an artifact from before the Realm Barrier was closed off. Normally this kind of book would be burned, but I've kept it and have been copying the information down for everyangel to use."

Emmalyn found the page she was looking for, and began to read it aloud. "To get to the Aether, oneself must travel to the Nether first to collect glowstone. Then, you have to build a block frame four blocks wide and five blocks tall. This is your portal."

"So how do you activate it?" Aphmau asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, the words are covered in cobwebs." Emmalyn said, brushing away the cobwebs and dust. "Here it is. In order to activate the portal, you need to take a bucket and fill it with water. Then you need to dump the water on the glowstone. And that's how you activate the portal." Emmalyn said.

"Oh. Okay." Aphmau said.