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It was always a surprise when a character from a book came out of his or hers pages. Sure, he had seen strange random characters from small time stories appear and as well as some of the Alice in Wonderland cast to the boy from 'Where the Wild Things Are', but it was still kind of strange.

The librarian had gotten good at predicting when storybook characters would appear but it was only on the off chance, which was when he had the book coincidentally already with him. That was the case for this one. It had been a random pick, or rather, it was a book he took away from two mischievous children, particularly the Mad Hatter and the Chesire Cat, who were fighting over it for whatever unknown reason. Almost tearing it apart, he had confiscated it only to find that the book had a mysterious feeling to it.

The book was called 'The Black Jewels Trilogy' and he recalled he read it some time ago. An interesting and dark read, to say the least, and he was almost intrigued at the fact that a character would soon appear from it. Being as dark as it was, however, he was slightly worried about the outcome. Sometimes when the characters appeared, they weren't children and had all their memories in tact. It happened only once, but, who knew what could happen?

Just as he began to flip through the pages once more, he heard a voice come from the front of the library. Sure, it might have seemed to strange that he could a voice when he was all the way in the back of the first floor, but the library wasn't ordinary. It was a useful sort of building if not a troublesome one, but it always did make a habit of notifying Ink if there were any newcomers.

Making his way to the front, he began to see a figure come into view and become clearer yet as he came closer. A young woman stood there, looking rather drenched and a bit lost. "May I help you?"

"Ah..." Ink said thoughtfully before smiling and nodding "Oh yes, I inherited this building from guardian, it's been standing for many many years." He said before looking down at the book in his hand and then back up at her.

Ah. Maybe her coming here wasn't just a coincidence.

"Neither have I, but I do recall it was quite the read. No need to apologize, everyone loves a good book." He replied light-heartedly before gesturing for her to follow "Well, we can get you some clothes first, the section for what you're looking for is far from here and will take a bit of a walk. You might get a bit cold if you don't dry up."

Placing the book down on the front desk, he turned towards the middle aisle and began to travel down it. The further he walked down it, the longer it seemed to get and the book count increased tremendously. The library wasn't silent to say the least, despite it's large size and grand amount of open space, the sound of whispers and shuffling feet from the children bounced off the walls and filled the building.

"Ah yes, don't mind the children if you feel like you're being watched. they're simply curious, we don't get many strangers here." He commented without a thought as he rounded the corner at the end of the aisle, turning towards a grand door. "Please wait a moment." He said before slipping behind them after carefully unlocking it with an intricate-looking key.

It didn't take long for him to step out again, holding the door open "I set some clothes out for you, hopefully they will fit. I spread out different kinds for you so please choose them to your liking. After you've changed we can go look for some books for you." His voice seemed to cascade down and fill almost everywhere, even into the tiny crevices between the books.

It might have seemed a bit strange to the woman, the building, the children and perhaps the librarian who seemed rather prepared.

Safe to say, Ink was used to it, after all, most who entered into the library expected nothing of it.

The woman seemed oddly content with the world that was the library. In fact, she seemed a bit too happy. The stock reaction was confusion, at best, but she seemed to show more curiousity like a child who just discovered an interesting place in the forest.

He gratefully took the minutes and gave her his thanks before watching her disappear into the room. Looking around, he noticed a few children wandering towards where they were and looking suspiciously at his hands. He bent down, his hands open "She gave me candy, would you like some?"

The bunch that were there nodded eagerly before flying towards his hand and taking one of the deliciously sweet snacks. He watched, with a smile, as they ate with satisfied smiles, telling them they needed to give their thank yous later. They all had agreed to the notion, only to dart away in every direction once the door opened again.

He stood up and his smiled at her obvious content expression. "You may call me Ink." He began with his gaze slowly drifting towards the children "Ah, yes, they are..." He continued only to be cut off at the surprise of her sudden closeness in proximity. Then he laughed and took a few steps back "They are always here, to put it simply, they live here. At least, they do until I find them homes.

"Come." He said as he turned around, heading towards the first of the grand staircases "I'll explain it to you as we make or way to the back. It's a very... interesting sort of thing to say the least. Whether you choose to believe it or not, it's up to you. Why, you might ask, is the story a questionable one? The explanation is rather simple since..." He paused and his eyes shimmered knowingly "All these children came from books."

Ink chuckled as the woman slowly pulled herself into a magical reality that was far beyond the possible. He listened quietly as he began to dazzle herself with the world she stepped into, it was amusing to see her so indulged in the idea of it. Even a few of the children giggled at her enthusiasm, clearly entertained by her expressive actions and words, even if they could only cpmprehend about half of what she was saying.

"You're very good at guessing, it is magic, yes, that much is obvious but I'm surprised you suggested the library. This building is very old and mischievous, it often likes to play jokes by changing it's shape or rearranging all of the books. It gets lonely however, and sometimes a bit bored of playing jokes on me." He paused a moment and sighed "So as a result, it started throwing a tantrum, you could say.

Characters began to appear out of their books, appearing as children with no memory of who they were before. Perhaps they come out because they are seeking new stories, who knows, but now it's become a duty of mine to find them homes. The library likes to see more visitors, but we've had to keep hidden for so long that we hardly have any. Now I've been opening it more frequently so more wander in, but really, the doors only show itself to certain people. So... maybe you coming here is not a coincidence." He smiled at the thought.

"Meet them?" He echoed, suddenly becoming silent as he gave it some thought "They are rather timid I don't know if-"

"IIIIIINK!" A small voice echoed through the room and a young boy with a red top hat came running towards them along with a cat-eared boy "Come quick! There's this weird boy in the front and... and...."

"He's got these scary AMBER eyes." the cat-boy continued.

The other boy clad in red frowned and turned to him "But you've got amber eyes too."

"Not like his!"

"Settle down you two, who are you talking about?" Ink questioned, clearly puzzled by their outburst, but maybe...

The two boys looked over at the woman at that moment and seemed a bit startled as if they forgot she was there. The boy in red stepped forward, regardless and said in an overly loud voice "Thank you for the candy!" and the boy shouted an agreement before the two of them ran back down the aisle and towards the stairs.

Ink smiled apologetically "Sorry about that." He murmured "They get easily exciteable. Ah, but, before we get your books, we should go and see what they were talking about first. It might be something that will intrigue you, if my guesses are correct. Shall we?"

Ink as intrigued by the woman's strange enthusiasm in the idea of the library. It wasn't a bad thing but it was a rare reaction. Most of the time it was confusion, indifference and the like, he hardly ever met anyone so excited to encounter such a place like the library. He chuckled at how she held out her and he gratefully took it "Of course." he replied, beginning their walk to the front.

"They do find comfort in associating with each other, but only if they're from the same book. It gets lonesome for characters who are the only ones who've managed to leave from their own stories. Most of the time, though, the characters don't associate themselves with others as a whole, simply because they're too afraid or nervous. Mad Hatter and Chesire Cat have been the few of exceptions. They get along well because they're troublemakers." He explained, with a light laugh "They've got a great sense of exploration, even though it's a rather uncommon trait amongst book characters."

The two of them approached the front, some of the children ducking behind them as the drew closer. Once they arrived Ink raised an eyebrow. Apparently he guessed correctly after all, a character from the book he had with him earlier had come out and a very unexpected one, to say the least.

They're standing amongst the books was a dark-skinned boy with bright amber eyes. His eyes were half-lidded and he seemed rather indifferent but their was a peculiar aura about him.

"Oh my." He muttered under his breath as the boy turned his gaze towards them.

The boy didn't reply. He simply stared at the woman and took no action. He didn't seem wary or frightened but he gave her look that read that he had deemed her untrustworthy. Something seethed in him but he didn't know what. He could feel it.

Ink watched for a moment, he didn't take much action either. Indeed it was Daemon Sadi, one of the more powerful characters in the book. Whether or not it was a bad thing, he didn't know but since the woman was there... maybe it was all supposed to happen. After all, she was already connected to the book to begin with.

"He won't know who he is and his ability hasn't fully developed yet, so he shouldn't be dangerous." Ink said to her quietly as he approached her and the child, who in return took a step back.

He bent down and smiled, Daemon only watched carefully as the librarian introduced himself "There's no need to be afraid, we're friends. My name is Ink, I'm a bookkeeper."

The boy merely frowned but did not respond. Instead he looked over at the woman and eyed her curiously and then at her hand. "What's.. that?" He asked, as his eyes focused on the mints.

The children whispered and Ink let the events unfold. maybe something interesting was going to happen after all.

The boy approached cautiously, as if expecting the woman to lunge out and attack him, he of course knew he could very well protect himself. At least, maybe he could. He didn't know much about himself, not even his name, but he could feel that there was a power about himself. Also, it might not hurt to get close to those around him, even if it wasn't for a mutual relationship, they seemed to know about him. What was that name again.... Daemon... Daemon...

Ink looked over at her and smiled slightly "I wouldn't mind. The power of the word can sometimes be the strongest thing, it might help. I'll be sure to read it when it comes out." He replied enthusiastically "Since you came here once, this place should be easier for you to find again, no doubt. Comes as many times as you like if it helps with your writing."

The children neared, most stayed behind, too shy to approach, only the more daring ones came forth. Of course, those would be the Madd Hatter and Chesire Cat, who stuck themselves onto Ink's back as he leaned down.

Ink gestured to them as the actively whispered to each other "These two will be going to their new homes soon. this place is like an orphanage. They come from books and as their librarian, it's my duty to find them proper homes. Most of the children here will be picked up soon, and some already have been adopted and are here merely visiting. They can be troublesome, yes, but nothing pleases a person who's lived so long alone than to see others grow."