[Edel PRP] Assessing the Great Library (Kios/Endi/Yu)

[A Wandering Esper]

By the time the conversation in between the two older gods had taken place, the young Lament had wondered pretty far away from the two of them. It would take a few minutes for Silence to track down his current companion, who was trying to reach the top shelf toward one of the heavy tomes without much in term of luck.

Really, little of the reborn pantheon had to deal with being so short. Akakios frowned to himself, then attempted to reach out again, standing on his tip-toes as if it would magically make him any taller.

[Syrie]

By the time Endiovar relocated Akakios, he'd managed to take pretty good stock on the condition of that section of the Library as well as mentally extrapolating the fairly uniform deterioration for the balance. Truly, this was going to be a herculean task! Labor of love from him and Revei...and from everyone else? Well, there would be some sort of reward for anyone that assisted the god of Silence; he would make sure of it. Nothing motivated mortals quite like the promise of a reward! For the gods...well, the Library was fairly important for them, having (once) held their histories and the sum of all written Knowledge.

Along the way, he'd picked up a few items along the way: scrolls not yet crumbling to dust, tomes that remaind bound and a small assortment of other salvagable items, so when he found Kios on his tippy-toes trying to reach a rather hefty object high above him, he dropped everything (as gently as possible) so that he could go and help. "I think you'd best let me get that down, but do not worry - height will come in time. Your father is quite tall - I'm sure you will be too." Endiovar wasn't excessively tall or anything, but he was a good bit higher up than child-Lament. He plucked it down with careful hands and then felt it's weight, felt the frayed edges crumble slightly under his touch and decided he would carry it if Akakios agreed to help carry some of the other items he'd dropped.

'Can you carry the things I dropped? Not all, I will cart some of those along, but this book feels fragile...and even weaving mana into it won't hold it forever.' He'd have to make a copy...somehow. Soon, perhaps. Or he could ask Creation if He had any ideas on restoring the badly abused Library.

[A Wandering Esper]

Akakios pouted - in a particularly adorable way - but eventually relented and let Silence reach out for the tome. He wanted to be tall now, was the problem ! Really. Being so tiny really wasn't handy at all...

He did, however, scoop up the discarded scrolls and books. It looked like he would be able to carry most of it, save for a few of the heavier books that Endiovar or Hue would need to take care of themselves.

Even with the small pile he was carrying, Akakios' frowny face was clearly seen. That wasn't good ! "I can rewrite it if you hold it together for me ! I write really, really well." The little godling all but puffed up with pride.

[Syrie]

Ah, children were so wonderfully open - bold and guiless, they hid nothing (even when they were trying to. He fought to keep from smiling, knowing that if he did that would only serve to make his companion upset/angry - how many stony silences had he known from children under those selfsame conditions? Countless. Endiovar gave a wordless command and Hue stepped in only once Akakios had gathered what he could; the Aoide collected the remaining items and straightened, falling into place at Silence's side.

"Can you? That would be wonderful, Akakios." 'It needs to be done soon, perhaps you would be willing to start on that while Hue and I continue taking the measure of the Library?' By stretching himself out beyond form, he could do so easily - Yu had reminded him by pulling the past to the fore of his memory - especially as it would not be the first time he'd tried it in this incarnation (nor the last). "I will hold it together for as long as you need, my young friend. Hue will fetch anything you need."

Even as they continued back to the entrance of the Great Library, Silence felt out the breadth of the space; each nook and cranny unfolding to him in it's quiet. It was a bit like seeing the world in 360 degrees when you were used to the normal range of vision - disorienting, nauseating and uncomfortable to process immediately; once he was used to it again, the discomfort eased and he quickly had an idea as to just how far and how deep the corruption had gone in Gianfar's beloved space.

Prognosis was bad, but not impossible. With the aid he'd managed to gather...it should prove to be a strenuous - but not exhausting - task. Now, holding the tattered tomes together long enough for Lament, Dream and himself to copy the information within...well, that was another story entirely!

Definitely a labor of love on their part.

[A Wandering Esper]

Kios padded after Silence and his aoide, following with no objection howsoever, though every now and then something seemed to catch his attention and make him stop for a few seconds before he noticed the two were still going, and scrambling along to catch up, careful not to drop any of his burden.

Typical child-like behavior, mostly.

"I can ! Is there some paper around ?" Paper, he knew, was a somewhat rare thing - fragile, easily undone by the narrowly avoided end.

[Syrie]

He knew each time that the child stopped to look and loiter, but merely slowed his steps so that the child would not have to go quite so far on his smaller limbs to catch up. At Kios' question, Endiovar smiled. 'Yes, near the doors I will have Hue set up a desk with all the paper you might need. I will leave him with you to attend your needs - but please do not overly strain yourself Akakios. You must stop when you are weary and rest. The Library will hold by my hand for as long as we require.'

There, not fifteen steps (his steps) ahead the doorways loomed; Hue moved quickly with his burdens, setting them down and then running off to compile the things Endiovar requested from outside the Library. Ten minutes later, the Aoide returned with a sturdy desk and all the writing utinsils that Kios could ever require - naturally, he had been unable to cart it all back and had drafted Piallo, an ice demon, as well as a demoness Aoide by the name of Alaska.

'Ah, Alaska, Piallo - before you make your leave, this is Young Lord Lament, Akakios. Son of Underworld and Music, Lord Nergal and Lady Echo. Kios, these are two of my trusted companions, Piallo and Alaska.' The ice demon winked at Kios and then bowed deeply before poofing away in a cloud of snow (the Library was far too hot for him to remain comfortably) and the siamese-colored Aoide Demoness bowed, her large breasts all but falling out of the skimpy top she wore (much to Endiovar's disapproval), and greeted Kios properly by his title.

"Ain't you just the most adorable little thang? Lord Lament, I'm atchur service!"

[A Wandering Esper]

"Uh uh." He nodded, absent-mindedly - sure, it was easy to agree now, but given a task, and well, that child-like want to impress... Well, it was probably better that someone kept a close eye on the child.

Oh, more people ! The little godling seemed a little surprised for a moment, reverting to his more shy demanor, which turned to total wonder when Piallo all but poofed in thin air.

How had he done that ?!

"Hello !" He said, nonetheless.

[Syrie]

Endiovar knew these things - he may not have had children of his own, but between the clear-read on Akakios and the memories left to him from Colin on how kids could be told Silence plainly that Kios would need help and looking after for such an ardous task as the one that lay before them. Naturally the boy-god would not be alone with his task - Hue would help, the other Aoide....Silence and likely Dream too. They would all help with getting as many of the battered, near-destroyed tomes renewed, with dusting and carpentry...fixing the Library, cleaning it and all the other varied tasks necessary.

There was no part of Endiovar's plan that said "half-assed is good enough". Oh no, they would do a good job of it, that was guaranteed. Mana, blood, sweat and tears, mixed with love and great care - that was the plan, loosely speaking.

"Akakios, I'm going to walk the Library again...I'm leaving Hue and Alaska here to help you...I'll be back shortly." After speaking aloud, he left Akakios with the two Aoide, introductions made, so that he could return to his former task of taking stock and perhaps figuring what areas needed the most attention, especially with repairs. Cleaning wouldn't be terrible...but the Library needed to be whole and hale again before that sort of action could be taken.

Alaska and Hue settled in with Akakios to work on the books - Hue more than Alaska, she was far more interested in the adorable "kid" with the strange eyes. "Hi sugah, so you're gonna help fix aaaahll these books?" But Alaska also caught the boy's mild awe at Piallo's dissappearing act. "Oh, don't mind him, it's too hot in here. He does that a lot, goes and sprawls out in a freezer or something." She was so helpful, wasn't she? With her horns and swishing tail.

[A Wandering Esper]

...The pretty lady did talk funny ! And... didn't she kind of look like Crys' kitty ?

Well, she certainly wasn't Crys' kitty, so no matter. "'Kay." Was the answer Endiovar got before his attention settled fully on his two aoide helpers.

"Yeah ! We're gonna fix allll of them." Ah, childhood naiveté. Of course they'd manage to fix everything, how couldn't they ?

...Why would anyone want to sprawl in a freezer ? Uh. Akakios pursed his lips in thought, as if pondering where to begin. "Hmmm..."

Oh, this one looked pretty, but... Sure enough, the lavender-haired child walked to the bookshelf and, stand on his tip toes all he wanted, could not quite catch the tome he wanted to reach.

[Syrie]

Akakios' child-like enthusiasm was a wonderful thing to see and it would no doubt be of great use to the persons working towards reclaiming the Library and making it as close to it's former splendor as it could be. That enthusiasm would help to carry them along when they came to particularly nasty sections: where the shelving rotted clear through and all of the knowledge once held upon said rotted shelves decayed and turned to so much dust.

Working to clean the library was not going to be an easy task, nor would it be one that was completed quickly, but those involved felt a strength of purpose that would hopefully be enough to see them through to the very last board, nail and line of ink upon parchment or page. If not, well...then the final finishing steps would likely be done by Endiovar and Revei, with their servants, alone. This had, after all, started as a labor of love between the two for their dear, missing god of Knowledge, Gianfar.

Alaska and Hue would keep Akakios very busy during the days and weeks to come; Endiovar would also spend much time with or near young Lament, but he was most often touring the whole of the library as a sort of overseer; taking care to see that each "hiccough" and/or "issue" was corrected as they happened, as well as making certain that each of his groups of volunteering helpers had what they needed to continue with the renovations. While he spent much of his time touring and taking care of things in a managerial sort of way, he was also expending a great deal of energy and mana to strengthen the remaining books, tomes and various other surviving artifacts - it would have been thoroughly exhausting, but Endiovar did have the help of Revei and - very occassionally - Xia Lu Ling. Akakios also put mana into the books that he worked on, he just didn't think about it, but the intense concentration and effort he put towards each one also tagged it with a bit of Lament's own mana.

There was absolutely no doubt but that this was an extremely daunting task for all involved - and one that gave a great sense of purpose and accomplishment: the whole point in these times was to rebuild: be it this Libaray or the growing Marketplace just outside the Pantheon proper, be it mortal numbers or whatnot...each time a goal was met, it improved the moral of the whole.

Even so, this was a task that would take quite a stretch of time and effort - but they were ready for it.

~Fin~