Day 27: Library

[not_rly_fai]

Libraries, he'd found, were rarely as dull as people made them out to be.  Though he felt no magic in these tomes, they were still full of useful information.  Maybe some of them could tell him a little bit more about this world he'd landed himself in.

For that matter, why hadn't he run into any of the others yet?  They'd all been fairly close

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[tartaros_avatar]

Recluse quickly opted for the library over the blinding natural light in the sun room. This could maybe give him some time to think, and maybe find a good book. He wasn't hopeful about the later, but he was still bored enough to try.

So. A little 'freedom' tomorrow. If nothing else, it would be a good time to use his skills as a thief. He wasn't going to try to escape, or attack the head doctor or some such nonsense. They had captured him easily enough when they first brought him here, when he still had all his powers. And from what he had heard of Landel's appearance in the chapel, attacking him head on was absolutely useless. But he was sure that some would still try.

Recluse wandered through the shelves, eyeing the titles. No non-fiction. How very conductive to weakening people's 'delusions'. And the only fiction he was interested in had mostly been published before he had been born. All the old science fiction novels he saw on the shelves were ones he had read when he was young. And no matter what else was going on that moment, as soon as I picked up a book, Marcus would start pestering me. Which was now a rather depressing prospect, if he actually managed to find an interesting book.

It was also deeply depressing that the only relatively modern book available was the Da Vinci Code. Highly overrated. Apart from that, it was all-- Now why the hell do they have that? Recluse pulled the Ars Goetia off one of the shelves. He found this more amusing than anything. The patient's library contains a demon summoning manual.

[sword_and_demon]

The library at least had a good selection, though it appeared someone else had already grabbed Dante's Divine Comedy. It wasn't nearly as good translated, anyway. He much preferred it in it's original language.

Instead he found himself heading towards Tartaros, who was holding... a demon summoning manual, of all things. And it wasn't even a real one.

"That one does not actually work," Sparda offered as he approached Tartaros, smiling slightly.

[tartaros_avatar]

Recluse looked up. "I know. But I also know some that still try to use it." Every once in a while, some idiot from the Circle of Thorns or the Hellions would be found with a copy.

"It's truly amazing what some will believe, just because it's in an old book."

[sword_and_demon]

"Hmn. Yes," Sparda did have an appreciation for irony though. He was speaking to Tartaros of greek mythology, while he himself was often considered a myth in his own world.

"Well, I suppose it's better they are trying to use that than anything that could actually summon a demon."

[tartaros_avatar]

"Quite. The mess they make when they actually manage a summoning is incredibly irritating." He already had enough problems with Aeon plugging a generator into a sleeping demon.

[sword_and_demon]

"Yes, when there are demons involved things usually get messy," Himself excluded of course... unless there was fighting involved, then things did tend to get messy despite his best efforts. Of course, the other demons in Landels had been surprisingly... tame, as far as he knew.

"And there are a surprising number of demons in this place," Sparda was still rather surprised at how many there were living like humans, among humans.

[tartaros_avatar]

"Yes, although they generally seem to only have a minor advantage over the others here at best." Recluse put back the Goetia and pulled out The War of the Worlds. He'd read it before, of course, but H. G. Wells was probably the best he was going to find here.

[sword_and_demon]

"This place does seem quite intent on leveling the playing field, so to speak. But at least it cannot take away experience and knowledge," Part of the benefit of living for such a long time was the amount of knowledge he had time to acquire. Granted, not all of it was relevant or useful anymore, but it was there.

Sparda glanced at the next book that Tartaros picked up. He preferred what humans these days considered 'ancient' literature. Though there were a few relatively recent books he enjoyed.

[tartaros_avatar]

"No, they cannot." Which was why he could still be considered superior to the humans here. None of them seemed to have any real practical skills. The man obsessed with explosives couldn't make bombs, all the swordfighters couldn't make weapons... They had to come to someone to get things like this.

Recluse started reading, spending only a few seconds per page. Marcus said the Rikti had invaded again, didn't he? He smirked slightly. There were some more prophecies from the Fortunatas that seemed to be working themselves out, then. More interesting things should be starting soon... he hoped everything would stay as planned.

[sword_and_demon]

Sparda noticed that they were being watched slightly by the man who Tartaros had been speaking with this morning.

"Do you want me to go with you again tonight?" It would be good to find out now so he could plan accordingly for the coming night.

[tartaros_avatar]

Recluse looked over at Marcus, wincing slightly as the boy with him called him 'Captain' so very, very loudly. Honestly, everything about Marcus was just designed to drive him insane, wasn't it? "Unfortunately, there is a man from my world who has just arrived. We have agreed to meet tonight, but he would be highly suspicious of any others with me." With good reason. But it was incredibly irritating.

"He is an enemy of mine, but I would rather focus on escape from this place over continuing our feud."

[sword_and_demon]

"I suppose it would be best to deal with him, then, as you will have to continue to deal with him once we all leave this place," Sparda could understand that. And perhaps it was better that he was now free to wander around on his own... though, it might prove beneficial to check up on the rest of the people he had fought along side last night.

[tartaros_avatar]

"Yes." It was so painful to be reminded of that. Hopefully once this mess was sorted out, dealing with Marcus would be easier than before...

But really, after so many decades, dealing with that man... he couldn't just let him get away from this as smug and infuriating as he always had been. Something would be done about that.

[sword_and_demon]

"What is he? Is he like you, formerly human?" It would be good to know on the off chance that Sparda ended up on the man's bad side simply by his association with Tartaros.

[tartaros_avatar]

"Yes. I was his friend while I was human." He stopped himself from saying any more, as it could easily degenerate into ranting. And he'd rather not let out anything while Marcus was here.