The Golden Throne

Chapter 27: A piece of the puzzle

"That way!" Hilbert shouted as he spotted a group of masked men battling a few security guards at the higher floor of the library. The masked men were pinned to a giant hole in the wall that lead outside. Hilbert, Hilda and Kye ran up the stairs and pulled out their Pokeballs.

"Ego!"

"Eelektross!"

"Judge!"

All three Pokemon appeared in front of their masters and rushed to aid the security guards. The masked men gasped in alarm when they saw Hilbert, Hilda and Kye joining the battle.

"Boss, they're here!" one of them shouted.

"Time to leave. We have the book?" the leader of the masked men asked.

"Yes boss!" one of them who was cradling a bundled up object yelled back.

"Weezing, Smokescreen!" the leader shouted. A Weezing inhaled deeply and shot out a foul smelling smog into the air that obscured everyone's view. Hilbert and the rest closed their eyes and coughed violently.

"Ugh, Judge use Whirlwind!" Kye shouted between coughs. The Shiftry fanned a mighty wind that dispersed the smoke. When the smoke was gone, the masked men were nowhere to be seen.

"No!" Hilbert grunted and ran towards the hole in the wall. He looked outside of it and as far as he could see, there was no trace of the masked men. Where are they?! Hilbert gritted his teeth. All he saw were the confused faces of the crowd who had gathered outside.

"No!" the director's voice could be heard coming from the ground floor. He sounded like he was in deep despair. The trio rushed downstairs to see what was going on.

"It's gone, It's missing, they took it!" the director was pacing back and forth next to a cabinet whose doors were wide open. The books in the cabinet were neatly arranged side by side, but between two books was a noticeable gap. His hat was on the floor and he was pulling at the little strands of white hair he had left.

"What's gone missing?" Hilda asked.

"The book!" the director cried.

Hilbert stepped in and placed his hand on the director's shoulder, "sir, I need you to calm down. What book was taken?"

The director stopped moving and took in deep breaths to steady himself. He glanced at Hilbert, "a rare and precious book. Analects of the Past, that is its title! Who would do such a thing?"

"The Zaff, who else," Kye crossed his arms.

"But what would they want the book for?" Hilda walked closer to the cabinet and inspected it. All the other books were untouched.

"Sir, could you tell me what the book was about?" Hilbert asked him, his brows still in a furrow.

"It's an old history book. That is all," the director shook his head, "its only value is its rarity, but there are plenty of other rare books in this library with a higher value, why would they take that one?" the director sighed.

Hilbert released his hand from the director's shoulder and crossed them, thinking of their next course of action. The director sighed once more, "when that book was donated to us, we promised them that we would keep it safe."

"Wait," Hilbert lifted his head up and glanced at the director. "Who donated the book to this library?" he asked.

"The Siluna family," the director said.

Siluna... the name echoed loudly in Hilbert's mind. Why does that name sound so familiar- wait, Alfonso! Hilbert took in a sharp breath as he remembered the bizarre experience he had when he was at the lost city of Ris'dra.