A Late Night Library Visit

Aurelia peeked his head around the corner and peered down the darkened crystalline hallway with an air of caution. It was far past his bedtime, but his new retainer Toby hadn't yet figured out he needed to be watching for Aurelia after hours. Aurelia was grateful for that. It meant he could get away with things like this!

Aurelia had been trying to put his plan into action for weeks! But every time prior to this he'd fallen asleep before it had gotten late enough. He had avoided the same fate this time by stealing Georgetta's coffee. It had only been half the mug - and it had been disgusting! - but it did the trick. It was almost 3 am now! Aurelia was pretty sure that was the latest he'd EVER stayed up. He felt a thrill at it all.

The young usogi gripped the charm in his pocket as he scurried through the castle, a good luck charm. Sunset had let him borrow it for a few days, she'd gotten it from the magician that had come to court last month. Tourmaline said it was worthless but what did she know? She wasn't a magician!

Aurelia stealthed his way past a group of usogami, somehow managing to get by without being spotted. He patted his lucky charm thankfully. The castle never quite slept, but he had never realized how many darn people could be awake at this hour >:( .

Finally Aurelia neared the library, now came the real test. He peeked his head around the corner nervously. His heart had been thundering in his chest this whole time, but now it rang in his ears so loud it was a wonder the entire castle didn't hear him.

There, standing in front of the tall imposing doors to the castle library was a lone guard. Aurelia froze for a moment, afraid it was the wrong person, but he relaxed as the guard perked up and turned to look at him, it was Dill. The little prince let out an audible sigh of relief and scampered up to the guard.

"I see you were finally able to join me." Dill remarked, cocking an eyebrow down at him. Aurelia stood up straight and gave him his best salute. Dill chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "So your little highness, you ready to go in?" The usogami unhooked a key from his belt and waved it at Aurelia.

"Absolutely!" Aurelia cried resolutely. He tried to keep a straight, stern and commanding face like he'd seen Philip do but his wagging tail betrayed his stoicism. Dill just looked amused.

The guard turned, fitting the key into the door's lock and easing it open without the hinges squeaking. Aurelia eagerly came up to the door, standing at the precipice of darkness. He hadn't realized how dark it would be. Logically, he'd known it would be, but only now standing in the shadow of the looming doors and looking into that pitch blackness he felt a little less brave. Memories of those scary stories about monsters made of shadow that preyed on uso stirring in the back of his head he gulped.

Aurelia jumped as he heard the clicking of a flashlight and as a light suddenly shone from behind him. He spun to see Dill holding the light out to him.

"So little highness, where are we going tonight?"

Aurelia looked at him in surprise. Of course he needed a flashlight! He should have brought his own! Accepting the flashlight he tried to regain his composure.

"I didn't pay you to escort me! I paid you to let me in." He proclaimed in the best 'I'm the prince and you'll do what I say' voice he could muster. He thought it sounded pretty good, just like Odette's!

Dill simply cocked his eyebrow again. "Alright little highness. But be careful." Aurelia nodded sharply - in a 'and that's that!' kind of way- and turned on his heel, plunging into the pitch black library.

The little prince gulped again as the door clicked shut behind him and he found himself alone in the dark, up far past his bedtime, among the towering and maze like shelves of the castle library.

And now, to find what he was looking for.

-

Dill tapped the shaft of his spear as he leaned against the wall contemplating if he had just done something very stupid. He would at least get an earful from Frau if she found out but he could handle that. He was used to that.

He felt a twinge of guilt for letting Aurelia bribe him. Taking a child's cash? Deplorable. But what was one supposed to do when a loaded toddler came up to you and said they'd saved up their allowance for a few months to bribe you to let them into the library past their bedtime? It was ADORABLE! And it was a lot of cash. He couldn't turn the kid away!

He couldn't help but be a little worried about him though. Not just about what the kid intended to do in there at such a late hour, but for the little prince himself. He had seemed awfully frightened despite his adorable attempts at mimicking his older siblings's gravitas.

Dill, however, wasn't as worried about what mischief he could get up to. Frau would catch him, there's no way the prince could avoid her, but he hoped Frau wouldn't scare the boy to death in the process.

Dill worried about these things for a little while longer, before making up his mind that it'd be fine. He was curious to see how this played out.

-

Aurelia quickly realized the many flaws in his plan as he roamed the dark, deadly silent isles of the library. First, that the library was awfully harder to recognize and navigate when it was nighttime. And second, he still didn't have enough arm space or strength to carry the books he wanted.

He'd found two of them so far, and he could barely hold them and direct his flashlight at the same time. Both were books he'd been told he couldn't or shouldn't read. But no one was here to stop him now!

And for the next part of his plan… find a hiding spot. Somewhere he could tuck these books away and come back for them later, or perhaps read them right now. Ms. Frau always knew when you took a book out of the library, so he couldn't sneak them out that way. But maybe if he kept them IN the library, he'd be in the clear.

Aurelia continued to sneak around the library, looking for a good spot. There were plenty of little alcoves and rooms for study, but he wanted to find somewhere that could be his, somewhere Ms. Frau wouldn't come and confiscate his books and where no one could find and bother him.

Aurelia had a difficult time finding a place that met his criteria. He started to feel tired, and scared. He wasn't entirely sure where he was in the library now. What would he do if he couldn't get out? Aurelia felt a pit in his stomach and he trembled slightly, waving his flashlight around and looking for anything familiar. But no, just rows and rows of unfamiliar looming shelves.

The shadows from his flashlight played off the bookcases and danced around him, he felt like he could see faces and figures in them, watching and jeering at him.

Aurelia whirled around, seeing movement. He held his flashlight out like a sword to ward off whatever it was. The light spun with him and rested shakily on a shadowy figure with glowing pinpricks of eyes. Aurelia dropped his flashlight and the two books in shock and fear, a scream getting caught in his throat.

Aurelia quivered, turned, and bolted down the isle. He skidded around the corner recklessly, nearly colliding with a bookshelf. He dashed blindly around another corner, the light of his flashlight now completely left behind. He slowed slightly, feeling out of breath, and as he slowed he collided with the corner of a bookshelf, banging his shoulder.

Aurelia stumbled to a stop and cried out in pain, grabbing his shoulder. He took a couple of faltering steps forward, and when he did so he was struck with a blast of air and the sudden presence of a blinding orange light. A horrible shout rang his ears as he fell on his back in shock, fear, and from the power of the blast.

"YOU!" A furious voice boomed. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?"

The scream that Aurelia had stuck in his throat broke free as he cowered in terror. His small frame shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Aurelia sobbed, crawling back in terror. His unfocused eyes trying to make sense of the hovering figures before him.

"THIS IS A RESTRICTED AREA. AND THE LIBRARY IS CURRENTLY CLOSED." The voice boomed again. Aurelia's vision came more into focus. There was only really one figure, and it was the rage filled frame of Ms. Frau.

She hovered six feet in the air, her long dark clothes flapping in some ghostly breeze, her gnarled spiked spirit staff she used as a magic catalyst hovering in front of her. Deep orange balls of magic hovering around her, snapping and crackling, burning and glowing as violently as her eyes. A magical barrier, appearing as a black iron spiked fence surrounded the two of them, locking Aurelia in here with her.

Aurelia tried to sit up and scramble backwards but his arms and legs felt like jello and he only succeeded in falling on his back again. He cried harder, burbling out a string of words even he couldn't understand.

-

Frau let her guard down, realizing who this tiny intruder was. She relaxed slightly, dimming the crackling orbs of power to a warm glow, like that of a fireplace.

"Prince Aurelia?" She asked in surprise. "Is that you? Do you know what time it is?" The little prince just continued to shake and babble nonsense through his tears. Goodness. "What are you doing here?" She asked, more to herself than him. My, that burbling was getting annoying. "Stop that!" She barked commandingly. The prince hastily stemmed his flow of nonsense words and started hiccupping instead. "Oh, dear Galine." She glowered with exasperation.

Frau came to a rest on the floor, dismissing most of the orbs and shifting the color of the remaining ones to something more soothing. She approached the little prince, desummoning her staff. Poor thing, he looked about ready to faint. She should have been more careful. How long had he been here? What was he doing here? Galine, he must be exhausted.

Aurelia cowered as Frau knelt down next to him, trying to scramble back. "Woah there." She coaxed. "It looks like we're a little worked up." Aurelia still looked terrified of her but his breathing started to calm a little. "Easy does it." She tried her best to sound comforting, but she felt a little awkward.

She could sense the Shock coming off him like a beacon. Not that she wouldn't have been able to tell he was shocked if that wasn't already one of her concepts. His eyes were bigger than bowling balls and all his fur was standing on end, not to mention he was shaking terribly. And still hiccupping.

"Do you want me to eat some of your shock so we can calm down?" She asked calmly. The little prince's eyes seemed to come into more focus.

"H-h-h-huh?" He whimpered.

"Your shock. My concept is shock. If I take it away you'll be able to calm down easier I think."

"I- hic Uh-uhm hic." The usogi couldn't quite finish his sentence so he nodded shakily. Without delay Frau deftly tugged away his shock, absorbing it into herself, and feeling rejuvenated. But of course it didn't all turn into energy, she received some symptoms herself. Her hands shook slightly and her chest felt tight, but it was nothing she couldn't deal with.

The little prince relaxed visibly once it was over, his hiccups stopping and his breathing becoming more level. He sniffed and wiped the tears off his face the best he could, his eyes were still red and his nose still runny.

"Now." Frau smiled tautly. "About why you're sneaking around here at this hour..." No sooner than she'd spoken Aurelia grew smaller again, laying his ears back sheepishly and looking much like a child who had been caught red handed does.

-

Embarrassed and afraid, Aurelia told Ms. Frau everything. His whole plan. Stay up late past when his retainers would be watching for him, sneak into the library and get a previously bribed guard to let him in. Pick out whatever book he wanted without anyone telling him no, find a place to hide and read them that he could go back to. He told her about the shadow he'd seen too, and how he'd run from it and into her.

"...What- what was that thing?" He asked with a quaiver in his voice that he didn't like.

"Oh." Ms. Frau yawned. "That was Charlie. Don't worry, I don't think it would have hurt you."

"^{You don't think it  would have-?} Wh- what is it?"

"I don't know. Some kind of spirit? It doesn’t like coming out in the day. But it helps me keep things in order when I need to sleep."

"Oh…" Aurelia muttered. Shivering at the memory of the weird twisted shadow with glowing eyes.

For his whole story she'd got him up and walked him through the isles, up a staircase, and through a door he'd never noticed before. It opened into a moderately small but very comfy looking room. As they entered Ms. Frau's ball of light (only one now, she had dismissed the rest) flew up to the ceiling, growing brighter and illuminating the room. She sat him down on a comfortable florally patterned couch in front of a coffee table, which, to his surprise, held his flashlight and the two books he had taken.

He stared at them in awe and disbelief, how did they get there? Ms. Frau hadn't known where they were or gone back to get them, had she? No, she'd been with him the whole time!

-

Leaving the troublemaking prince on her couch, Frau turned to the tea kettle she had left before teleporting off to deal with whoever had tripped the sensor to the court records section. She teleported a new clean mug into her hand, setting it down on the counter and pouring a small amount of the tea from the kettle into the cup. It had cooled a good amount but it was still warm enough.

She turned back to the little prince, who was now staring at the table with a tired and befuddled look on his face. Handing the cup to him, he accepted it with a quiet and distracted "Thank you Ms. Frau..."

She shook her head with a tired exhale and sat down on a chair across from the coffee table. "Aurelia… I understand your curiosity but-" the prince looked up sharply, looking distraught. Frau paused, reconsidering what to say. She turned to the two books on the table instead.

'The Search for the Golden Apple of Alchemy.' and 'The King's Art'. The first was an in-depth half history, half speculative dive into the possibilities and dangers of alchemy. It didn't exactly mince words with it's more stomach turning details. The second was a biography of a king that had dedicated their life to alchemy, it had quite a bit of… questionable content…

In short neither of the volumes were fit for someone the prince's age, in content or in reading level.

Frau sighed. "Prince Aurelia." She started evenly. "I'm not trying to work against you. I like seeing you reading and looking to learn more. Here," she stood, moving over to a bookshelf set into the wall. She picked out a somewhat thin volume (at least compared to the thick books Aurelia had lugged around her library) and returned, handing the prince the book. "I think you'll find this book to your liking."

Aurelia wrinkled his snout, but accepted it nonetheless. "But it's so smaalllll." He complained.

Frau wagged her finger. "Size isn't everything. I'm sure you'll find that book difficult enough. You can take it to your rooms if you want." Aurelia perked up a little, she hadn't let him take any books out of the library yet, she hadn't trusted him enough for that. "And about your own space in the library. I think we can arrange something for you."

Aurelia's eyes widened and he wagged his tail. "Really!? Like Rhondite has?!"

"Yes, like Rhondite has."

The little usogi whooped for joy and bounced in his seat a little and Frau couldn't help but smile at his innocent excitement.

"You know Aurelia," Frau said gently. "you can ask me next time. Come and talk to me about it. I'll try and be more understanding from now on." Aurelia stopped bouncing and looked sheepish again.

"O- okay." He conceded. Frau nodded with relief, rising and starting to speak, only to be cut off by a knock and the door opening.

-

Dill knew he was in trouble before he even saw Frau's Silent Sovereign. He heard it's voice in his head like he had all the other times he'd gotten in trouble with Frau.

"Dill… Frau would like you to come to her suite and 'clarify something' for her. I have already alerted Yvonne that he is to take over your post, he is on his way."

He hated the feeling of it talking directly into his head, and how when it quoted Frau directly it just broadcasted a recording of what she said right into his brain. It gave him chills.

Dill had only been to Frau's room once or twice before so he still needed her lilli to guide the way. The lilli didn't say another word, unnerving little thing. As he followed the eerily glowing lilli in silence he got to contemplate his poor decisions.

After easing the door open Dill tentatively poked his head in after the lilli and was immediately met with Frau's death glare. The orb of light illuminating the room crackled angrily and Frau's eyes burned and glowed along with it.

"Oh, Dill. Please come in." She smiled at him with her 'I'm going to rip out your tendons and use them to bind a book' smile and he shied back chuckling nervously. But dutifully he entered the room, the door closing of seemingly its own volition behind him. Dill laughed nervously again.

"Gable," Frau said, ignoring him for a moment and speaking to her lilli. "will you please go find one of Aurelia's retainers and bring them here?" It was then that Dill noticed the little prince sitting on Frau's couch, reading a tall, thin, unlabeled book. He looked like he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Dill. Care to explain to me your side of this?" She asked with her unnerving angry smile.

Dill squirmed. "...What did the kid tell you..?"

"I'm asking you. I already asked him."

"Well," Dill side eyed Aurelia, was he listening? No he looked too tired. "a couple weeks ago he came up to me and he said 'You're gonna help me sneak into the library at night.' and I laughed at him and I said 'okay kid, what'll you pay me?' - It was a joke, to be clear." He added hastily as Frau narrowed her eyes at him. "And then his royal tininess over here gets out a pouch and says 'I'll give you my allowance for the past two months.' and I laughed and looked in the pouch and then my eyes popped outta my head."

"You were bribed by a seven year old?" Frau responded through clenched teeth. Dill flattened his ears and tilted his head, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm almost eight!" Aurelia interjected, sounding barely awake. "In a few weeks!"

"Prince Aurelia, your birthday is in two months. Not a few weeks." Frau corrected.

"S'... Still a few weeks..." He yawned, trailing off and closing his eyes.

"It was adorable, Frau. How could I say no?" Dill gestured to the nodding off usogi on the couch for emphasis.

"And, the money?" She asked flatly.

"H- how could I say no?"  Dill sweated. Frau sighed at that in exasperation.

"Give him back three quarters of the cut. Then I won't bring this up to your superiors." Frau demanded. Dill tried to protest but Frau gave him a harsh look. "Dill, I am tired and do NOT have the patience for this right now. Do as I say."

Dill relented. "Yes ma'am." He grumbled, saluting.

"You are dismissed. And no, I will not give you any candy this time."

Dill sheepishly smiled at her, looking away from the bowl of candy near the door that his eyes had wandered too. And with that he left, returning to his post just in time for Toby to hurry by with Frau's lilli, looking frantic. Dill just shook his head when Yvonne asked what that was all about.

"Ahh, I'll tell you tomorrow." Was all he said.