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Truth to be told, Xiu wasn't really sure how this had happened. One minute, she was idly flipping through books in the library and just happened to stumble over a short sentence about an "Underwater Labyrinth", and the next minute, she was surrounded by stacks upon stacks of encyclopedias and textbooks in search of more information on this mysterious place. From what she had learned so far, the labyrinth was somewhere in the Human World, but she hadn't had much luck in gathering any more information beyond that. She was certain that some of the books she had grabbed must contain some more information on the topic, but the act of leafing through all of them one by one was proving to be quite the time-consuming task.

Especially since her desk looked just Arel's, with the only difference being that all the stacks of paperwork had instead been substituted by a bunch of heavy looking tomes.

It proved especially frustrating when, after poring over a book in search of information, it only contained a short line of the one fact that she already knew. Yes, she knew that this "Underwater Labyrinth" (apparently) existed, and yes, she knew that it was in the Human World and somewhere close to Halloween...but surely there was more to it than that! Truth to be told, Xiu wasn't entirely sure just what it was about this topic that fascinated her, but...wouldn't it be amazing if she and her friends could go and seek out this fabled labyrinth? It would be quite the adventure to be sure!

And so, despite her frustrations, the baku continued to plow on, dumping aside one book to grab yet another one off the pile to skim though.

Just having the books in her dorm was kind of a comfort. Occasionally, Levi brought a magazine, book or encyclopedia to her room just to keep up the intellectual non existent part of her brain. Sometimes she took out agricultural volumes due to sheer curiosity about various plants and how they took to certain treatments for the best harvesting results, but mostly the books were quite random. More recently, the tatzel ghoul had sneakily snuck a SixteenScream into her dorm- again, out of sheer curiosity. Why the library even had those was a mystery, but there they were. The country ghoul had always been quite adamant about her lack of interest in all things ghouly but she really couldn't seem to help herself sometimes. The magazines were both boring and intriguing at the same time, causing her to flip through the pages but not retain much of what she was seeing; just seeing it was enough.

Also in the library on this particular day were a couple of familiar faces. The newest issue of the questionable magazine was rolled up under Levi's arm, thumbs locked into position in her jean short pockets as she saw the first of her familiar peers around the bend by a stacked table. Now West, what'cha doin' readin' all them-... He wasn't alone. Sounds of flipping pages and a slowly appearing head behind the towering hoard of books came into view. That hair, those ears; Levi recognized them almost immediately and smiled at the baku before becoming baffled as to why there was a meeting of these two individuals with all these tomes packed so high.

Jack tell me I ain't missin' somethin'. If this was for some sort of class, she hadn't the foggiest about it, and that was a knock at her intellect.

Taima usually reserved those hours between her last class of the day and whenever she got hungry for research in the library. It allowed her to keep ahead of her classes or, if she had already finished all of her coursework, on top of anything else she happened to be looking into at the time. Which was currently everything. Although most of what she read in the library had no practical value--who would ever need to know the chemical makeup of newt's eyes, anyway?--she liked learning about it. One could never be too prepared, after all, especially with all of the strange things that had been going on around Amityville lately forever.

It was routine: come in, nod absently to the librarian, make a beeline for the reference section, pick a book and read until she got bored and/or restless and/or hungry, or any combination of the three. Except today, there didn't seem to be any books in the reference section. Taima glanced towards the librarian's desk, frowning at him in bemusement, and followed the point of his finger as he gestured at a desk across the library. There sat what seemed to be the entirety of Amityville's impressive collection of research materials, a bunch of other students crowded around it.

Curious, Taima headed over to see what was so important that it required the use of so many books. "Hey," she whisper-hissed when she was sure her voice would carry without violating the silence of the library, "you guys know you took, like, the entire research section? Even the dictionaries? What are you guys even doing?"

Let's see. Underwater Labyrinth, Underwater Labyrin--

The baku flinched in shock when a voice piped up from seemingly nowhere. Pushing herself up and out of her chair, Xiu turned to face the boil with wide eyes, her hand clutched over her heart. "West! You scared me!"

Her expression became a little sheepish when she noticed the book in his hand, but just as she opened her mouth to answer, another familiar face showed up. "Jiejie!" Her eyes visibly brightened at the tatzel's arrival, and she couldn't help but smile at the other ghoul's concern. "Oh, no, jiejie. These are--"

And then yet another person showed up. Xiu lifted a hand to wave to Demi, but this time, she didn't even bothering opening her mouth to speak as she was certain that--yes, there, oops. They had attracted another person, and for good reason as well. Looking sheepish, the ghoul bowed her head at the newcomer, careful to keep her voice soft. "Sorry, it's actually my fault. I was--"

Suddenly a ghost. Xiu blinked at Victoria curiously--oh, did she know Levi and West?--before her lips spread into a smile. Cringing a little when someone shushed them, she made certain to lower her voice to a murmur. "Nice you meet you, Victoria. I'm Xiu."

And then there was a long, long pause as she waited to see if anyone else would suddenly appear. When it became clear that no, Victoria had been the last person, the baku let out a quiet sigh of relief and gestured sheepishly towards all the books she had gathered. "I...first off, I apologize for grabbing all the books," She glanced at Taima as she said this, and then she turned her attention down to the notepad that she had been scribbling in. Picking it up, she held it for the others to see, "I um, I was actually doing some research! Apparently there's this place called the 'Underwater Labyrinth' somewhere near Halloween, and I was actually hoping I could find some more information on it. I know it sounds silly, but assuming that it really does exist...I kind of want to see if I can find it, you know? Like an adventure!"

Xiu sighed then, forlornly shutting the book that she had just been scanning though. "The only issue is that I can't find too much information on it. It says it's near Halloween, but I'm not sure how someone is supposed to get there. A portal, maybe? But where would the portal be?" She furrowed her brows, and then shook her head, "Anyways, that's why I'm trying to get through all these books. It's taking me a while, but..."

One after the other, they were piling in by this small mountain of books and one baku. Levi, momentarily stunned by a hellhound's handling of her ears, hissed and flushed a near shade of rosy pink. Hissssss REX! This was followed by a correcting hush from an unseen library visitor, causing Levi too to straighten up and glare at Demi. He'd get it back eventually; retaliation was imminent. For now, the ghoul's tail remained still; something about the library made the tatzel want to go into stealth mode. It might have had something to do with the magazine she rolled up and stuffed into her back pocket, or the fact that it was dead silence aside from the flipping and rustling of pages.

The ghoul's eyes went wide when the ghostly ghoul now known as Victoria pointed her out and then stared at her shirt again. Mirroring her, Levi too looked down at herself before meeting eyes with the ghoul. What'I got on?! Candy corn juice stain? Then out came the nicknames and Levi raised a brow. Name's Levi. Ain't no kitty cat, Missy. To emphasize, she flickered her tongue once, both hands resting on her hips.

Then came the inquiry of a rather personal inspection.

Levi looked at Victoria. Then looked at West. Then back to Victoria. Then to Xiu and Taima. Then at Demi. Then back to West and Victoria.

What

It wasn't a challenge being place before her or any offering of a battle; so why did the ghostly ghoul want to inspect her body? This wasn't a matter of sizing her up, Levi reasoned. Levi hadn't met anyone named Amphi, but it could have rung around the classes. Hel? ... Well, Hel was a ghoul who knew her battle moves. Could Victoria be aiming to learn something involving chests and tactics using them? There were some very effective holds that depended on the use of a bosom to block an opponents air passages if they were a breather. Was this something a ghost would want to know more about? As always, Levi would give her the benefit of the doubt; perhaps Victoria was a budding athlete as Xiu was.

Don't really think this is tha'place fer that... As if there was a proper place for that. Levi knew the library was not a place to begin any sort of wrestling activity. But if yer lookin' ta' learn somethin' new, I can show ya'nother time. Maybe West was worried about such tactics. His face became something quite comical and Levi placed a hand on West's arm while beaming down at him as he sat. I'd show ya, but then ya'll'd know- Another shush rolled through the air directed at the group, so Levi moved in closer by West's ear to keep it down. ... yew'd know what'was comin'. Where's tha'fun'in that? If there was a colliding of chest matter with his back at any point, it was strictly due to her leaning over. Balancing back onto the heels of her feet, Levi turned her smile back over to the baku, one hand pulling open the chair next to West, who explained the situation in further detail. Leaving poor West likely confused as hell.

So it's somewhar'round 'ere. Hmm. the first book available within her view was what she picked up by the cover, resting the spine down on the table with a thunk. A good adventure was something worth looking into. If'I were a underwater laba'rynth... where would I be other than under water somewhere on the grounds? Guess I'd be someplace under water.

Excellent problem solving right here.

Mollified by the baku's admission, Taima nodded absently and turned her attention to the other ghoul's notes. Underwater Labyrinth...that sounded interesting. The prospect of visiting somewhere so largely unknown was exciting, and--chest? What? Taima was distracted from Xiu's notes as the little ghost ghoul asked to examine the feline ghoul's boobs. Odd as it was, Taima found herself curious enough to ask, "Why do you want to measure her--you know what, never mind, I don't think I want to know after all." She wasn't that curious, and judging from the demon boil's reaction, this could only end one of two ways: badly, or horribly.

Taima returned her attention instead to Xiu as the baku mentioned something that sounded vaguely familiar. "I've never heard of any underground labyrinth, nearby or otherwise, but portals...maybe not portals as such." Xiu really had taken all of the books, which made it easier for Taima to go through them. She went through one of the stacks of books, moving them from pile to tabletop, heedless of whatever order Xiu had them in. The first stack didn't seem to yield what she was looking for, and her lips pressed together in an irritated frown as she went through the next one. No, no, no, no--aha! About halfway through the second pile of books, she found what she was looking for: a completely unremarkable-looking book, no unique markings on it, not even a title printed on the cover; nothing that would make you look twice at it, unless you spent your free time around boring, unremarkable books.

"Found it!" Taima nearly chirped in excitement as she held it up. "It's a book of maps," she explained, "with details about the places the maps are of. Most of it's typical stuff--dates, names of historical figures, notable landmarks--but there's also bits of local legend in there. That stuff read too much like fiction," she said, almost disdainfully, "and it didn't mention any underwater labyrinths or portals, but there are a bunch of places in our world where sometimes people just...disappear. Amityville is, like, the capitol of all things weird; there's bound to be one of those places nearby!"

...All this talk about boobs and touching things was really starting to confuse her. If it would placate her, Xiu would have offered up her own chest to the ghost, except...

Well, yeah. No boobs. Not really, anyways.

She gave a little wave of her tail when the others started picking up books to sift though, pink eyes lighting up. Oh! Were they going to help her find more information on this "Underwater Labyrinth", then?! Or better yet, would they all be interested on going on this adventure together?

She beamed at each of them in turn, smiling at West and Taima, chuckling at Levi, Demi, and Victoria. Things would go a lot faster with five more pairs of eyes searching with her.

Sure enough, it seemed as if the thunderbird had discovered something. Tapir-shaped ears perking up, she carefully set her book down on the table, moving over to where the other ghoul was. "Places where people just disappear?" She echoed, the excitement evident in her voice, "So maybe...portals that pop up and disappear at random? And you're right--there has to be a place like that near us! If only we could figure out where--"

She cut herself off, jumping in surprise as Victoria suddenly spoke up to compliment Taima on her wings. There was a moment of pause, and then the baku giggled loudly, an act that only earned yet another "SHHHHHH" from the surrounding students. They were totally going to get kicked out at this rate. Best to act fast and find what the needed.