Paige and the Lost Library of Atlantis

Paige and the Lost Library of Atlantis Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The Lighting grew red, alarms blaring overhead. Paige placed her hands over her ears protectively. The girls untangled themselves and hurried down the ramp towards the center of the room.

Marcus was already there, and the control station. He was punching at screens and muttering to himself.

As suddenly as the alarms had begun, they stopped. The ringing echoed on in Paige's eardrums. She grabbed Billie's hand as she ran. Her touch reigniting the fire she had just felt, her entire body buzzing.

They clamored to a stop and slowly climbed up the platform to where Marcus was standing. He gestured to the girls, motioning for them to come forward.

"Girls, it would appear that our time is up." Marcus ran his hand down his face, as if trying to wipe off the stress.

The Curator slowly walked up to them, holding an open book in her hand.

"This red lighting makes it awfully hard to read Marcus. What on earth, I mean, we're not on Earth, but still, what is going on?"

"Madam Curator, I was starting to explain that to the girls. Please, sit." He gestured to a white rolling chair near him.

He gently took the book from her and placed it softly on the desk behind him.

"There is only one thing that would set off that severe of an alarm; it must be The Erasers. They have found us, or at least Oakwood Meadows. I fear we do not have long now. It is high time we come up with a game plan here, ladies."

"Too bad we can't just get them to erase themselves." Billie laughed sarcastically. "If they viewed themselves as a threat to the balance of light and dark in the universe, then they very well may defeat themselves.

Paige thought about that. It seemed like an easy plan in theory. Too easy. But how in the world would they make that work anyway? Would they really fall for that? Then again, if they viewed themselves as the good guys, they may do the altruistic thing and sacrifice themselves. Maybe.

"It can't be that easy, but it might just be our only plan. But how do we even talk to them without getting zapped out of existence?" Paige grabbed Billie's hand for support.

She held on tight to her Billie, grateful she was by her side. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, trying to quell the rising anxiety bubbling in her chest. What if The Erasers just erased them all as soon as they revealed themselves? What was stopping them from that?

"If this doesn't work, we can manually decommission them," Marcus explained. "However, they must be within the confines of our hideout. If we remove the protective warding across the town and here at our base, I am sure The Erasers would make short work of finding us here."

Marcus dropped his head to his hands, trying to wipe the tears leaking from his eyes discreetly.

"It's all my fault. All of this," He whispered. "This would have never happened if we had just had the strength to erase the worlds ourselves. But I couldn't do it. After dropping the first world into the abyss, I had a hard time living with myself. I couldn't do it anymore, let alone ask my colleagues to do the same. So we created The Erasers. Tasked with committing the atrocities of erasure that we ourselves could not."

Paige sat with this for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. She walked over to Marcus and placed a hand gently on his shoulder.

"I know you thought you were doing what was right — trying to balance the light and the dark. I come from that so-called darkness. I come from one of those dark worlds, so does Billie. We are good, or we try to be, at least. I think, by trying to control light and darkness, you upset the balance you were trying so hard to maintain."

Paige walked back and forth, gesturing with her hands, trying to explain. "I don't think a world can be good or bad. Within each world exists the balance of both. People can contain within them the potential for both light and darkness. Without the contrast, without both light and darkness, neither can exist."

Marcus stood up suddenly, emboldened by Paige's impromptu speech. "Paige, you may be a genius. The Eraser's very creation upset the balance of the universe. If we can distract them long enough to convince them of this, they may just erase themselves as Miss Turner suggested."

"I'm sure you meant to include that Miss Turner is a genius as well." Billie retorted. "I hate to play devil's advocate here, but what if that doesn't work? What if they flick their collective wrists and erase us anyway? I don't want to lose anyone else." Billie's voice broke on her last sentence, and Paige walked over, pulling her into a hug.

"Billie's right, how do we pull this off without losing anyone? The Erasers have taken so much from all of us already."

Silent up until now, The Curator noisily cleared her throat. "We will do as we have so far, whatever we must. If we do nothing, we will all lose. By at least making an attempt, we stand a chance at salvaging ourselves and the worlds and stories we all care for deeply."

"Oh, Madam Curator, you do love us," Billie said with a slight smile, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Well, Miss Turner, do not push your luck. As we are still bathed in this hideous red lighting, I assume we should be getting on with things."

Marcus Picked up a transparent tablet from a nearby desk, his fingers hovering over the glassy surface.

"Well, it's a good a plan as any, and it will have to do. The good news is that we don't even have to try and lure The Erasers. They have already found us. The bad news is that they have already found us. As soon as I lift these wards, there is a chance they will immediately erase us. It has been an honor, helping you ladies try and save the universe."

Marcus began walking towards the long ramp, climbing higher and higher.

"Come on, ladies, there is no sense in hiding." The Curator said curtly, following him up the ramp.

Billie turned to Paige and grasped both of her hands.

"Ok, Paige, promise me you won't get erased." She let out a sarcastic laugh, her eyes filling with tears.

"Only if you promise me the same. Billie, it's been an honor falling in love with you."

"Now you sound like Marcus," Billie whispered.

"I am most definitely not Marcus," Paige replied, pulling Billie closer, nuzzling into the crook of her neck.

"No, I suppose you are not," Billie said with her lips hovering just apart from hers. "I suppose we should follow them, help them save the world, or something."

"We should," Paige said, "but I just want to steal one more minute with you."

She looked into Billie's eyes, searching for a way to capture this moment. To lock it in her heart and keep it forever. She knew now to cherish the blips of happiness she was given. It could all be taken away so quickly.

She closed the distance between them. Billie's lips parted and met hers perfectly. An explosion of love and worry and desperation flowed between the two girls. For a moment, the whole world, the entire universe, was just about them.

If they could save the worlds with the kiss of true love, they would have already won.