This story is part of the Wanderer series.
With eerie silence, the shoreline began to recede into the horizon. The clouds moved faster. But the ocean below stayed calm. Seemingly inanimate, for all the waves crowded the shore. The castle was moving.
Bringing her staff down to her side, Chiyoko watched the sun-baked horizon a little longer, allowing the breeze to pick up inside her castle’s cocoon, before stepping off the top of the spire, floating down to the bridge. Landing, she thumped her staff on the bricked ground and turned around, walking into the castle. A long shadow followed in front of her.
“The West Continent is about to descend into war once again,” she said aloud to herself. “I must make haste before it does.”
From deep within, her Celestial awoke. “Do you intend to join the war?”
“No.”
Arriving at the end of the hallway, the large wooden doors opened before her, and she crossed the threshold without slowing her step. After which, they shut again.
“The island nation,” Chiyoko continued. “Known for its enlightened thinkers. It will certainly be sought over as a worthy prize.”
“Will you show your face to the world once again?” the feminine voice echoed.
“No. I cannot afford to,” she insisted, drawing her lips tight. “The world thinks I am a ghost story. It is better if it stays that way.”
Reaching the Center Room, she walked up to the great hole in the center, standing at the railing as it overlooked the endlessly spiraling staircase.
“I shall collect the books and manuscripts from their library,” she announced. “For safekeeping.”
The voice remained monotonous. “They will not allow it.”
“Their will does not matter.” Chiyoko gripped her staff tightly. “I will not stand by and allow another Alexandria.”
“The scholar and tactician. A sworn acquaintance of yours.”
“I will pay him a visit first,” she agreed. “But should he be naive enough to disagree with my judgment, I shall confiscate the manuscripts by myself.”
The voice said nothing more. Chiyoko circled over to an opening in the railing and stepped into thin air, levitating once more. She descended down the giant well this way, through the helix spiraling staircase. The walls were lined, floor after floor, with book cases, neatly organized and packed full.
“I read those manuscripts before. They are too valuable to lose,” she insisted. “They piece together the workings of the system that binds you and I together. They are the last copies of the lost researcher, who went missing shortly before the onset of the war.”
“Do you not believe they can protect the library?”
Chiyoko thought for a moment. “I do not know. They will try. But, ultimately, I do not know if they will prevail. They are a small nation. These are two continental empires wrestling for territory. I will not take the risk.”
As she descended deeper and deeper, the soft glow of sunlight diminished, replaced by a pulsating turquoise light.
“Will the books return to the library after the war?”
“Perhaps. If they prove themselves capable of housing such valuable manuscripts.”
Arriving at the bottom chamber, she levitated above the giant, glowing stone, almost the shape of an egg. Flying to its side, Chiyoko let go of her staff, leaving it hovering in the air, and placed both her hands on the glowing surface. Resonating her own energy with the stone, her silhouette began to glow the same color, and the stone pulsated faster. Though the atmosphere inside the library did not seem to change, the weight of the world did. The castle had accelerated its velocity, the walls subtly tremoring.
“I will arrive by midnight. Then, I shall visit my good friend and scholar in private.”