Paige and the Lost Library of Atlantis

Paige and the Lost Library of Atlantis Chapter 20

Chapter 20

When the smoke cleared, Paige heard the loud clang of the door being slammed shut. She looked behind her, but the doorway had disappeared, and in its place was a grey brick wall.

Ahead of her was a hallway: Grey brick walls and heavy metal doors, each with a small barred window on the top. Paige started to laugh. Hysterically. This was insane. Not for the first time lately, she questioned her sanity. She sank to the floor and didn't know for sure if she was laughing or sobbing — so many damn doors.

One of the tiny windows had a glow emanating from it. Well, real or not, she was stuck here, it seemed. Paige got herself up and wandered over to that door. She stood on her tiptoes and peered inside.

She saw herself, sitting under a blue leafed talking tree, relaxing and chatting away. This was the memory that she had seen when she had touched George's Trunk.

As she watched, the edges of the scene started to fade away. Blackness crept closer to the tree, and her past self sitting underneath. She watched herself stand up and begin to scream as she clung closer to the talking tree. The tree started to wrap its branches around her, holding her in a tight embrace. The whole memory faded to nothing, just before the blackness had reached her feet.

Visibly shaken, Paige backed away from the door. That must of been the destruction of her world. If her last memory before being warded was this one, it's no wonder George had affected her so strongly. In what looked like their final moments, The Talking Tree had done it's best to protect her. She felt a pang in her heart at the loss of this creature. She wished she could remember its name.

Paige looked around at all of the doors that surrounded her. Each one must be a memory of hers. Maybe the heavy locked doors represented her memory warding. As she contemplated this, the door protecting the memory she just witnessed, started to disappear. As it faded away, a memory slammed into her.

She could feel the trees embrace, the surprisingly soft bark against her skin. She remembered the empty darkness creeping ever closer, and the deep visceral fear she had felt. The tree's name was Amica. Paige would see her everyday and talk about life. They had been close.

Try as she could, Paige couldn't recall much more than that. She was, however, desperately curious and needed to see more. Walking up to the nearest door, she placed her hands around the bars on the small window and peered inside.

She saw herself standing at a desk. It was clear, like glass, and had bright digital displays running across it. The room was white, with large windows that ran floor to ceiling. She watched as her other self placed books on a cart. It was clear, like the desk, and floated gently behind her.

The cart bobbed through the air, following close behind as she made her way among the many shelves of books. So she really was a protector, saving lives, and guarding entire worlds. Although she did realize it looked like she was only shelving books.

She remembered that book cart. It was a machine, intelligent enough to perform its tasks. Paige, however, had believed the cart had a personality. It only really worked for her. When any of the other protectors tried to use it, it dumped the books on the floor and tucked itself back into the charging station.

Management had tried to replace the cart, but Paige had convinced them to keep it, as long as she only used that one and left the rest to the other workers.

Paige had drawn a face on the cart, complete with whiskers and tiny pointy ears. She had even named it Spunky. Spunky had followed her around like a puppy. Everyone else treated it like a demon cat, giving it a wide berth.