[This rp icly takes place on May 14th 2023]

February and March had been full of client work which had taken her out of town, but Iðavöllr had managed to make a trip to the Wonder with which she had shared her name last month.

She'd brought some more manure with her to replace the previous bag and had finally decided to start leaving her Iðavöllr gardening bag on the Wonder.

Continuously bringing the bag too and fro had seemed a little silly - especially given the fact that her Wonder had so far appeared to be completely devoid of life apart from herself–

Well and also Ragna, although Iðavöllr wasn't sure that her ghostly predecessor really counted given that she was well a ghost. She also doubted that the other was particularly interested in stealing the bag and/or its contents even if she could, because truthfully Ragna didn't particularly strike her as the type.

She had ended up splitting time between the garden and the library that she had found during her last trip back in mid-January, wanting to take a closer look at the room that she had only looked into briefly before returning back to Destiny City.

She was planning to spend more time in the library tonight though, something sad about a room that looked like it had once been well cared for.

It was one of the bigger rooms that she had come across so far, with shelves of books stretching across three levels. There was the remains of what appeared to be a couple of seating areas.

The real gem, however, was the ceiling–

Or what was left of it given that a lot of it was open to the night skies, allowing the snow and cold in, but enough remained for Iðavöllr to see the remains of stained glass and guess that it had once made up the entirety of the ceiling.

It struck her that the library was perhaps the same one that Liryn had found back back when Ragna had taught her to use her aspect.

The small talking cat had gone wandering off on his own and had mentioned coming across a library–

But Iðavöllr thought that Liryn would have mentioned the stained glass ceiling, because what was left of it was really pretty, enough so for her to find herself wondering what it would have looked like in its heyday.

And Liryn had also said that the books had mainly been in good condition and the books in the library that she had found were very much not.

Although Iðavöllr wasn't particularly surprised - not with the room now open to the outside elements as it was–

Instead she'd spent some of her last visit trying to start cleaning up the room as best she could, by attempting to gather the books that were in better condition together.

It wasn't a one night job. Wasn't even a [ithree night job, but she thought that she could at least spend some of today going through some more of the books and moving the ones in better condition.

Not that she could read any of their contents, and yes she had tried out of curiosity when going through the books last month, well not quite a full month since it had been on the 16th, but still close enough.


"You've found the archive library."


Iðavöllr paused in her sorting of the books, as she carefully slid the last couple of books onto the growing pile that she had mentally dubbed the 'ruined' pile as she turned to look at Ragna–

Because it seemed like her ghostly predecessor had decided to grace her with her presence.

"Archive library?" She looked at Ragna in curiosity before reaching for another book.


"Yes," Ragna tilted her head slightly "Whilst this is not Mercury, my predecessors were happy to share what information they had with those who came to visit the Hall and just as they did I too added to the books" a small smile "A lot of scholars made their way here back in the day."

The smile turned to amused laughter as she added "But I guess you could call me something of a scholar myself as I had a private library of my own as well."


"Was that part of being a knight here? Being a scholar?" And whilst Iðavöllr couldn't say what made her ask that particular question, she didn't take it back, a part of her curious as to how the former Iðavöllr would answer.


"No" but Ragna didn't seem to be offended by the question "While many scholars often seemed to find their way here, being a knight here wasn't contingent on being one" her voice turned serious "Duty, dedication and the ability to work hard was important..." For a moment it looked like her ghostly predecessor was going to add something more, but then she shook her head slightly, as she instead changed the topic "I see that you still tend to the maristela flowers."


Iðavöllr nodded as she sorted through few more of the books "I.. Er yes." She said as she added two of the books to the books that were in better condition before adding the last one to the ruined pile. She fiddled with a book awkwardly before admitting "I'm not really a gardener, and I don't want to become one - but there's something peaceful about being out there." She gave an awkward smile "And as I've said before - the flowers are really pretty, despite being so overgrown." She sighed "I bet the gardens looked really nice once."


"Yes, the gardens were lovely - both the ones outside and in the inner courtyard, and tending to the flowers make for a good escape" Ragna gave her a sidelong look "But there is a better place here for those who want to clear their heads - such as the meditation chamber."


Iðavöllr blinked "There's a meditation chamber here?"


Ragna inclined her head, but it didn't look like she planned to elaborate further.


Iðavöllr hid a sigh and sorted through yet more books, as she found herself wondering just how many secrets lay hidden on her Wonder. It wasn't the first time that she'd had the thought and it was unlikely that it would be the last.

Either way it didn't seem like she was going to be uncovering any of them tonight.

Instead she gathered up the books that she had managed to salvage from today's sorting attempts with the intention of adding them to the others.

She hesitated by the door "I'm going to drop these off" she gestured vaguely in the direction of the remaining pile of books that seemed to be in better condition awkwardly not wanting to drop any of the books that were currently in her arms "And then pick up the rest of those, but then I'll work on the maristela flowers for a little bit" because tending to the flowers had become something of a habit.

She paused for a moment before she added quietly, "But I hope you have a good rest of the day."

She thought that she had heard a quiet 'Good day' in return, but Ragna was still in the same position when she slipped through the door and the ghostly former was gone by the time that she returned for the second batch.

-- 1223 words --