The Eternal Sleep

Only one who is pure of heart

Luca landed on another tile gracefully, shaking his head to clear the fogginess. This cube held the copy of a world filled with arcane and orcs, fire and brimstone and an ending war. He stood at the edge of the tile, taking in his surroundings. Jay and Rena were doing their own scouting of the cubes, curious looks on their faces. Luca could see the tops of Armando and Rena’s heads where they were lounging on a pair of sofas on a tile, books piled around them so high, he was worried they would get buried in it if it took a tumble.

            Luca looked at the swirling, blue cube and sighed. He had seen world filled with amazing machinery, steam powered engines and flying ships. Worlds filled with alchemy and magic, necromancy, and dark arts. It was like taking a look into the creator’s mind, taking a look at how Naijal Sun and Aidan Jhonnes saw the world, and all of its possibilities.

            They had been here several days now, taking some time to get their hands on all the books that either did not exist in the real world, were in different languages or were far too expensive for them to afford. Another plain sign that Naijal had spent a lot of time and money on the construction of this world, yet he was willing to shut it down with little to no explanation.

            Despite the several days they have occupied the place, they had not seen hide nor hair of another living being or NPC. Armando reckoned that according to the size of the building and the possible ‘look smaller on the outside’ layers of code placed on the building; it is possible that they have not even seen the middle of the library yet.

            That was until today of course.

            Jay was the one that finally stumbled across it. Placed directly in the middle of the library, protected by a ring of stone walls, and stretching to the never-ending ceiling, a leafless, cedar tree stood proudly. They had all gathered on random tiles at a distance, nervous to approach the tree in fear of an attack. It was the item floating at its base that made the choice.

            “Reckon that’s the book we’re looking for?” Luca glanced at Armando from his crouched position on a tile couple of metres away from the base of the tree. A book, roughly the size of an adult human was floating unhindered at the base of the trunk. It has a midnight blue covering with silver patterns tracing up its spine and spreading on the cover like vines.

            “Yep, according to the information that Book Keeper gave us, it should have everything we’re looking for, the designing of the game, it’s workers, the process, essentially a worded look into the world of the creation of ‘The Eternal Sleep’.” Armando whispered, not wanting to disturb the awe that had settled among the group. This could give them all the answers they were looking for, the reason why the game was shutting down, the reason for Naijal Sun suddenly retiring and maybe even clues to the quest itself.

            “What’s stopping us from just grabbing it?”

            “I’m… not sure actually.” He frowned, hand twitching as if to pull up all the information they have been pouring over the last few days, “Keeper’s notes never mentions anything on a guardian or boss fight.”

            “So, we’re free to grab it?” Jay didn’t wait for a response, jumping from his own tile to Luca’s. Luca gasped in surprise as a hand latched tightly around his arm and the tile tilted dangerously. He turned to see Jay’s smug and immediately caught onto the plan, he rolled his eyes, ‘and the others think I’m the reckless one.’

            He doesn’t waste a second, teleporting inches from the book and pulling Jay to his side. Luca raised an eyebrow as Jay only swayed a little, shaking his head slightly, looks like Jay was finally getting used to his teleporting. “What on earth are you two thinking?” Olivia growled at them.

            “Come one guys, it’s a game, we don’t gotta play safe all the time.” Luca yelped as he dodged a bullet from Rena’s pistol, “Besides, if we die, you guys will find out if it’s booby-trapped a lot faster.”

            “Fine, if the book doesn’t kill you, I will.” Luca waves off Olivia, knowing that she would keep good on her promise whether they lived or not. Jay glanced at his surroundings wearily, inching his way to the book.

            He placed his fingers gently on the book.

            Luca was not prepared for the repercussion.

            A loud screeching echoed around them, tripling in strength at it resonated off the walls. He stooped down and covered his ears, trying and failing to block out the noise. Luca pulled Jay to the ground, away from the book, their footing unstable as high winds pick up around them.

Papers and books flew everywhere. Luca felt as though, if possible, the very air in his lungs was being stolen against he will. A shadow fell over them, sword like claws flashing in the light. In the midst of the chaos, Luca feels too panicked to survey his surroundings. Jay grabbed his hand and pointed to Rena, Luca nodded and teleported them to her side.

It took Luca a second to realize that the noise is gone, his ears ringing. Rena was clicking her fingers in front of their faces, trying to get their attention. Jay pulls himself off Luca and swayed on his feet, offering a shaky hand to him, Luca took it with an equally shaky grip, bracing some of his weight on Rena’s offered shoulder.

“What hit us?” Jay groaned, rubbing his head. He glanced at Armando’s hand unsteadily pointing at the direction they just teleported from, he gaped in awe.

Standing at the base of the tree stood an owl as tall at a building. Its wings were spread open, the span almost scraping against the opposite walls of the library, every feather transitioning from black to midnight blue, flecks of silver simmering in the light. A single claw the length of a car, scraped against the ground, producing an awful screech.

The glowing grey eyes swept over them as if analyzing him, the gold flecks made Luca feel as though he was staring into a glimpse of the universe. He shuddered as the eyes glanced at him, feeling powerless under the stare. Jay shakes his head as if he had water caught in his hair.

“Who are you?” he speaks up, his voice strong and curious.

“I am an owl,” The voice felt like it was vibrating off the walls, heavy and loud, Luca’s legs threaten to crumble under the quaking of the tile, the owl’s eyes fell on Jay, gaze piercing, “The real question is, who are you?”

“My..uh, name is Jay, I’m a player in the game?”

“Welcome Jay.” The owl gave a small nod, slightly pulling its wings closer to itself, “And what is it that you seek?”

“The book.” Jay hesitated on his words, trying to pick them carefully, something about the owl’s presence made stringing thoughts together difficult. Luca placed a hand on his shoulder, nodding with a confident look as Jay glanced his him. “The book on the creation of the game.”

            The owl screeched and flapped its wings, forcing the team to kneel to the ground and grip the edge of the tiles, lest they be blow away. ‘Only one who is pure of heart may peer upon the book.’ The owl shook itself, ruffling its feathers like an angry bird protecting its child.

            Luca and Jay look haplessly at each other, turning to Rena who immediately puts up her hands and takes a step back. They yelp as the tile shifted dangerously, a small weight landing near the edge. With a mad scramble, they manage to right the tile and stare at the perpetrator, Armando stares back at them with a stunned look, muttering a small ‘whoops’ under his breath.

            Olivia takes a more graceful path, jumping off her tile, grabbing the edge and swinging herself with enough momentum to land directly in the middle of the tile in a superhero pose. She broke her stunning display by grinning cheekily as she stood, walking over to Rena’s side.

            The genius walked over to the other end of the tile, bravely looking the owl in the eyes, “And who among us will be considered pure of heart?”

            “One who as accepted their world.” The Owl was cryptic as ever, flapping its wings lightly and watching as a damaged feather falls to the ground.

            “What does he mean by that?” Olivia’s nose was wrinkled in thought, “Why not just show us the book, I mean, why have the book if we’re not allowed to use it?”

            “No, it makes sense.” Armando rubbed his chin and placed a hand on his side. The team falls into their habitual talking circle, listening attentively to the young genius. “This is the company secrets in the first place.”

            “Back to what Ollie’s saying, why have it if we can’t get it.” Luca leans back slightly to peek at the owl calmly fixing its feathers like a normal creature of the real world. He had to admit, living so close to the city, it was rare to see birds of prey and was slightly awed by the presence of such a being… even if it was seven metres tall and could probably end him with one bite.

            “Think of it this way, you have a birth certificate on you, you are the only defense standing between it and someone demanding to see it.” Armando sighed thoughtfully as they continue to give him a blank look, “Look at it from the owl’s perspective, just like it, you would not mind as much showing it to your friends because their teasing would be good natured, if they tease you at all. You would not, however, even think about showing it to someone who demands it and could potentially hurt you.”

            Luca thinks it over, nodding as he replays the words over in his head, “So, essentially, we have to prove to the owl that we’re not going to use the information for bad?”