Into The Fray

"Librarian, co-ordinates from the sarcophagus, please," Jenkins said stiffly, making Flynn cut short his one man conga.

"Excuse me," Flynn said to Clara, edging round her, ignoring the dirty looks she was flinging at his head like daggers. "Ah, here we are," he said, unfurling a scroll, "Om, Ah, Ra-Oop..." He glanced down at the rest of the parchment, only to be confronted by blank space. "That's it," he said, brow furrowing.

"Nothing else?" Jenkins said, frowning as well.

"Well, if there was, I would be Omming like an orang-utan at a yoga retreat in the fifth dimension," Flynn retorted, "which incidentally is a pit-stop along the way to the Library, and unless we sort this scroll out, I'm going to be stuck here like a baboon in a glass bottle cast in the Caspian Sea. And I for one would not like to find that particular bottle washed up on the beach."

"It's the storybook," Cassandra said nervously, "you can't just feed it numbers."

"Oh," Flynn said, before turning to Clara, his gaze raking her.

"What?" Clara said, frowning.

"Read me a bed-time story, beautiful," Flynn pretended to leer, sidling over to her.

"Whatever," Clara said, rolling her eyes. "What do I say?"

"Shall I show you?" Flynn purred, nuzzling her neck.

"Do you want me to turn your masculinity into a myth?" Clara suggested sweetly, grabbing his thigh, her nails digging through the fabric.

"Be my guest," Flynn winced, trying to save face.

"Don't tempt me," Clara snapped, letting go of him. "Once" - she then began, only to stop as Flynn suddenly shoulder-bumped her, sending her sideways like a pendulum. "Do you mind?" she hissed, but he just waggled his eyebrows at her, making her smile despite herself. "Once upon a time," she continued, elbowing him out of the way, "there was a very annoying" -

- "dashing" -

- "annoying Librarian," Clara said loftily, turning away from him, "who wanted to open a door to" -

- "his home," Flynn said, leaning over her shoulder, reading the words appearing out of thin air on the storybook page, almost like they were being written by an invisible hand.

"Uh, guys, we're getting some real power here," Ezekiel said nervously, as the dimensional stabilizer began to click and whirr, filling the air with an odd humming, making the floor vibrate beneath their feet. "Is that meant to happen?"

But Flynn just started laughing, jumping and down with glee, clapping his hands together, before suddenly lifting up Clara and swinging her round, his dark eyes dancing with almost devilish joy, something she hadn't seen for a long time. "Jenkins," he boomed, setting down the now dizzy Clara, "you're a genius!" Before Jenkins could react, Flynn kissed him on the forehead, before ruffling up his hair, offending Jenkins's dignity.

"One is aware, sir," Jenkins said tersely, smoothing down his silvered hair.

"Hey, we all contributed," Ezekiel pointed out. "Well, maybe not everyone," he amended, glancing at Eve, making her roll her eyes.

"My son!" Flynn declared, descending on Ezekiel, clasping him to his chest. "Jake, my child!" he declaimed, turning his gaze upon Jacob.

"I'm okay," Jacob said hastily, backing away

"So am I," Cassandra added, putting Flynn's desk between them for good measure.

"The Librarian and his friends used the door to open a path," Clara then continued, making Flynn finally release Ezekiel from his overpowering embrace, "to a place they had lost..."

"Your nose was spot on!" Flynn beamed to nobody in particular.

"Nose?" Jenkins said, frowning again.

"No, notes," Flynn said, raising his voice above the din, "your notes about the Pyramid to be precise!"

"Notes?" Jenkins said, brow furrowing. "What notes?"

"The notes you sent me," Flynn said, looking at him as if he was mad, "the notes that were genius which makes you a genius which we all knew already."

"I never sent you any notes," Jenkins said, shaking his head, "I mean, why would I? You haven't been in contact for practically aeons now - so why would I take the time to sent you a little epistle, when you can't even call to let me know you're alright" -

- "Call?" Flynn said in disbelief, his temper rising, making him forget what they were meant to be doing. "I heard everything thanks to that one particular phonecall" -

- "What are you talking about!?"

"Clara's day off," Flynn snapped, making everybody glance at him, "remember?"

Jenkins paled, taking a step back.

"What are you talking about?" Clara asked, confused. "What's my day off got to do with the Pyramid?"

But before Flynn could frame neither truth nor lie, smoke suddenly started to billow from the sarcophagus, rapidly filling the room, making everyone choke and splutter, Clara burying her nose in the crook of her arm. Then Dulaque was striding out of the smoke, startling everyone, shocking them to the spot. At the sight of their stunned faces, a smile snaked its way across his skull-like one, enjoying their idiocy. As ever, he was dressed like he was attending a business meeting, Lamia sashaying at his heels, the ultimate accessory.

"And then a hero arrived to set the world to rights," Dulaque intoned, coming to a stop in front of Flynn.

"Dulaque?" Flynn said stupidly.

"Thank you for doing all the dirty work," Dulaque said, examining his fingernails, "it was most considerate of you."

"What have you done?" Jenkins breathed, returning to life.

"Watch," Dulaque said, before turning and flinging the back door open.

"That's your grand plan, opening a door?" Ezekiel said, frowning.

"It doesn't just change this world," Dulaque said cryptically, "it ends it."

"What have you done!?" Jenkins yelled, rushing forwards, only for Dulaque to raise his hand, stopping Jenkins in his tracks. When Eve and the others made to move to Jenkins's defence, it was only to discover they couldn't, the spell extending to them as well.

"I need a blood sacrifice," Dulaque said, sounding bored, Lamia licking her lips at the prospect. She pulled out a knife, before grabbing Flynn by the arm, forcing him to kneel in front of her.

"Don't!" Clara screamed, feeling the storm stir in her, returning her to life. "God, please don't!"

But Lamia just smiled, stooping down, ready to draw the blade against Flynn's throat, ignoring the screams and yells that rose up in rebellion, Flynn's gaze meeting Clara's for one last time, completely powerless to save himself. As the magic roared like violet fire through Clara's veins, it was only to be quelled by history repeating itself, Dulaque suddenly stabbing Lamia in the back with his own dagger, making Clara reel, the spell forcing her to stand.

Lamia slowly turned around, face shocked. "I loved you," she gasped, before her eyes rolled back in her head, the knife falling through her fingers, body slumping to the ground, finally still.

"That was your misfortune," Dulaque said coldly, pulling out a black silk handkerchief, wiping the blade clean with it, "and mine was lowering my standards," he finished, casting Lamia's corpse a disgusted glance, stowing the dagger back inside his waistcoat.

Clara stood there, head spinning, not quite grasping what was happening. Yet she dimly realised it was always going to come to this. As though in a dream, her gaze travelled over Eve, Ezekiel, Cassandra, Jacob, Jenkins, and then finally Flynn, the first and last face she'd seen and would ever see. They were her world, her family, all she had left. Her life had been a lie until the moment she walked through the Library's doors. It was her home, sheltering and shielding her.

"So with blood, the Passage was opened to the Loom of Fate," Dulaque declared, holding his handkerchief aloft, almost as if it was a favour granted to him by his lady love. For a moment, Clara was in two places at once; the Annex and Camelot, watching Dulaque destroy everything she ever cared about, watching Lancelot compete in the jousting tournament, her favour tucked in his breast-plate, a secret smile tugging at the corner of his lips as his eye caught hers -

And then Dulaque was gone, throwing himself through the open doors and into the unknown, the spell lifting, setting them free. Without thinking, Clara threw herself into the fray after him, Flynn at her heels, fate finally coming full circle.

Grab for myself or endure a living death
Into the fray with pure commitment...