bridgescribble | Take a look, it's in a book

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Take a look, it's in a book

The Magic Library

Haunted: There are ghosts in the stacks, and they are definitely disturbing the other patrons.
Way into this book: No, literally--you are now in this book. Maybe it's the Great American Novel or maybe it's a suspense thriller. Whatever the plot, the only way out is to see it to the end.
The characters are so real...! and in front of you, demanding your attention. That could be the other person in the thread! Or it could be frickin' Sauron.
Dynamic Dewey Decimal: The shelves in here are curiously mobile. Whether you see it happening or not, it's soon obvious that the place has become a maze--and you're in the middle.
Forbidden section: Every good magical library has one. Eldritch runes, lurking curses, a necromancer who's been waiting for someone to read him back to life--it's all in here, waiting to be uncovered.
Magic for Dummies: Ever wanted to learn magic? Great! There's a bunch of easy how-to books right here! They're a little light on safety precautions, though....
Sir you need a library card for that: You work here and you're trying to deal with an unruly patron... and the library is still magic. This is the most harrowing prompt on the list.
Magic library? Really? Somehow, you are having a completely normal-ass time in here. That's remarkable in of itself.
Wildcard!

Nita turned around and around, taking in the authentic, raw view.

"That's some really good architecture, holding up to a hurricane... is it just natural, or do you reinforce it with your magic?"

She could just imagine what it would be like, to be able to watch such a storm yet know you yourself were safe.

“Reinforce. I tried natural once, but it didn’t last too long.” Marie said, shaking her head. “Fishing artifacts for days.”

Nita winced in sympathy.

"Ouch. Gotta build the place you want to see in the world, then, sounds like."

Still. "What kinds of artifacts do you have, exactly? Do you keep things for their looks, or for what they make easier to do, or...?"

“Exactly. On the plus side, it makes things so much easier once you know what to do.”

As she was asked about the artifacts, she let out a soft hum. “Looks, mostly. But I keep quite a few on standby.”

She grabbed a brooch and motioned to Nita before tossing it. “Catch. It won’t bite!”

As much as she liked Marie, having her reflexes tapped into like that meant she brought up a shield before realizing she was supposed to just catch it...

While she was no baseball player, she instead made a valiant attempt at saving the brooch, managing to balance it on top of a flexible piece of her shieldwork.

"... Got it!"

Still, now that she had it, she couldn't help giving it a closer look.

She would find it to be something of a cutesy design - heart-shaped in gold and pink. There was magic inside, powerful ones.

“Some of them I’ve taken from less savory types.” Marie said. “That one I took from an overzealous magical warrior. Thought all magic users were threats and I had to shut them down.”

"The brooch, or the power he was using?"

Because the person Marie had taken it from... probably shouldn't have been using it.

"Because he definitely sounds like a hypocrite, to say the least."

She didn't feel the need to touch on people who killed magic users or creatures; that was a just plain depressing part of reality.

“The power.” Marie clarified. “And yes, he was a major hypocrite.”

There was a small sigh before she approached Nita.

“You, on the other hand, have no such faults. At least, with what I can see.”

"Yeah, he doesn't sound like a 'pink and gold' kind of guy," Nita replied.

But hey, she could be wrong! No need to try to suss things out using the Speech as a truth detector or anything.

"Guys like him leave a really low bar, though. And we've only known each other, what, ten minutes?"

Still, Nita was blushing, just a little, at the praise.

"I don't think so, either. I think he might have stole it from a girl." Marie added.

"Now! I do have to owe you for saving me from that book." She smiled sweetly at Nita. "Anything you want, I'll do for you. No questions asked."

Nita seemed just a bit stunned, at that.

Sure, she'd found herself in the midst of some pretty incredible things - and friendship itself definitely counted, given how she'd lived her life before taking the Wizards' Oath - but someone offering anything, no questions asked?

"Well, what do you do normally? I'd, ah, kind of like an idea of what you already like doing, how you spend time."

Now that Marie was free again, and all...

“On a simple day like this? I usually like to catalog my artifacts and see if I can discover new things about them.”

She giggled as her clothes morphed into a one piece swimsuit.

“Then, it’s swimming!”

Nita looked decidedly intrigued, and she let herself drop her shield enough to actually handle the brooch Marie had tossed to her.

"That's... okay, that sounds like a good day anyway. If I come up with any actual requests, though, I'll tell you. That work?"

Though she might need to double check if her claudication had any swimsuits...

“That works wonders! I am in your debt.”

As Marie bowed, Nita can see how the brooch can open up from a latch on its top, revealing a set of small jewels.

Nita carefully opened the latch, not aiming to remove any of the jewels...

"Whoever originally had this, they have good taste," she had to admit.

"Did you want to start with going over these?" she asked, turning the brooch around carefully to show the jewels to Marie without any of them falling out.

“Ah, a wonderful idea!” Marie said, leaning back up and her clothes returning to normal. “Now, I will say that, to catalog these properly, we might have to be test subjects. Are you willing?”

Nita quirked an eyebrow.

"... Only if you don't mind me making my own reports about what these things do."

Just in case something went wrong. One could never be too careful, after all.

“Of course. Multiple sources and all that!” Marie said, nodding.

Nita reached sideways, expression brightening when it turned out her claudication had stuck by her on her journey through the portal, and retrieved her Manual.

"Is it okay if I record your actions as well, or just what I'm doing, while we study these?"

In a situation like this, Nita felt better asking upfront.

Marie nodded at her suggestion. "Please, go ahead. To be honest, I've always wondered if I was doing things wrong, so it would be nice to have someone to watch over and make sure things went right and point out my flaws."

There's a joyful hum. "You are so thoughtful, you know that?"

Nita aimed a bemused little smile at Marie, then cued her Manual to start recording.

She'd sort the audio into data tables later if needed, but for now...

"Aww, thanks. Let's get started!"

She eyed up the jewels, noting their dimensions, colors, and relative position, then gestured for Marie to pick one out.

Marie nodded and reached out for one of the jewels, choosing the silver one in the middle. Using magic to lift it up, she noticed it reacting, a form of ribbon wrapping around her hand.

“Transformation magic, it seems.” She said. “Seen this before.”

"On itself?" Nita asked, glancing to make sure her Manual was printing their observations (which it was).

"Can you tell if it can transform anything else, or just itself?"

There was a distinction!

"Does look to be useful, if limited."

“No, this is definitely meant for the user.” Marie said, watching as the ribbon covered her hand and flashed, turning into a glove. At the same time, the sleeve on her top had disappeared.

“I think this is meant to make a costume of some sort. Conservation of matter.”

Nita nodded, breaking that observation down into a few more statements for her Manual to record.

"Does it only impact fabric?"

And, truth be told, she was a little distracted by Marie's bare shoulder... but it wasn't nearly as distracting as Marie having been entirely naked just half an hour or so before, so it wasn't so overwhelming.

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