Paige and the Lost Library of Atlantis

Paige and the Lost Library of Atlantis Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Billie woke up to a blaring alarm coming from one of the machines that were attached to Paige. She fell out of her chair into a heap on the floor. The glass doors slid open, and Billie quickly righted herself. Sitting back in the chair, she hastily brushed her hands through her hair and tried to compose herself.

Marcus walked in, quickly moving to investigate the blaring alarm. He tapped the screen in front of him a few times, and the beeping stopped. He looked back and forth from the machine to Paige and back again.

Billie stood up and walked over to where Marcus stood. "What is it, Marcus? What's going on?"

"Paige has successfully removed all of her memory wards," Marcus said, but he didn't sound happy about it. In fact, he wouldn't look Billie in the eye as he said it.

"But isn't that a good thing? Isn't that what we want"?

Marcus hung his head sadly. "Yes, that is what needed to happen. But, Billie, Paige, well, she should be awake by now. Her vitals are completely normal."

"So why isn't she awake then? What is wrong with her? Wake her up! Can you inject her with adrenaline again?"

Marcus shook his head. "Doing so again could kill her. My best guess is that when Paige recovered all her memories, they were very painful. Too painful, maybe. Her warding was some of the strongest I have ever put in...uhh, I mean...seen.

Marcus busied himself, tapping at things on his screen, not looking at Billie. But Billie had not missed his slip up. Not by a long shot.

"Marcus, tell me, what exactly do you mean her warding was some of the strongest you have ever put in? Do you know her? Did you do this to her!?" Billie raised her voice, stepping continuously closer to Marcus as she spoke.

She poked her finger into his chest. "You are going to explain yourself, to me, right now, Marcus. I don't care who you are or what you're in charge of, talk. Now."

Marcus sighed and pulled a chair up from the edge of the room. It made a loud metallic scraping noise as he dragged it across the room. He sat down, motioning for Billie to do the same.

"I've been here a long time Billie. Long before the modern age, as some now call it. We were the first that we know of, to begin protecting stories. Ever since we discovered that the stories were real, that even we were a story, we have felt the need to preserve and protect as many as we possibly could."

He paused and looked up at Billie, who was growing impatient. "I appreciate the history lesson, Marcus, but what does this have to do with Paige?"

"I'm getting to that. Just be..." Marcus began.

Billie quickly interrupted him. "I swear Marcus; If you tell me to be patient, I am going to lose my cool here.

"Ok, long story short then. I can do that. As I said, we protect the stories. We are always on the lookout for talented protectors, kind, brave souls who show compassion for those around them. We saw that talent in Paige. She was recruited, as her parents had been, to join the protectors. Her first assignment was to care for the stories in the library. She hadn't been assigned any work away from home yet.

"The Erasers had been attacking her world for nearly a decade, as you well know Billie. You are from the same world as Paige. The final assault came faster than anyone anticipated. There was hardly time to rescue anyone. We only had the time and the resources to pull one person out before The Erasers destroyed it. We decided on Miss Paige here, because we thought she held the most promise as a Protector."