It was probably about midday when Evie figured out what she wanted to do for the rest of the day to distract herself. She had still been thinking about what horrors could lie ahead for Cassie and Theo during her walk back to her room. Gena brought her some breakfast, and all she could focus on was how not only did Cassie and Theo have to cross the expansive Leifolk Forest to the west, cross the lowest point of the Never Peaks– albeit, still crossing mountains, no matter how short they are– and traverse the Draguissonne Highlands before reaching Bellesailles. Evie was mentally cursing her brief obsession with geography that caused her to commit all of that information to memory because her brain wanted to linger on how dangerous traveling those areas was.

Evie always reached for her books at times like this because reading fantastical stories or absorbing random information about a topic occupied her mind and drowned out the other thoughts. However, she went to grab the book she was currently reading only to remember that she had finished it the night before. She gazed at her small stack of books, and she was sad to say that she didn't feel like rereading any of her comfort books.

So, of course, there was only one option: take an adventure to the castle's library.

Evie hadn't stepped into the library since her first day in Vale Serine, and honestly the visit was long overdue. She almost hesitated at the doors at the thought of the volumes of books waiting behind them, but the smell of the old paper hit her as she opened the doors, making her forget all her troubles.

The white pillars were just as gorgeous, and Evie could spend hours tracing the gold embellishments that weaved their way up the pillars and into the paintings above. Evie's eyes traveled up the pillars as she walked into the middle of the library, and she gazed upwards at the massive painting on the ceiling. It had to be the largest out of all of them. The more she looked at it, she realized she knew the story it depicted.

It was the sacrifice of Nevernia Ravenwell, the Witch Queen and beginning of the Ravenwell line. Every child of Nevernia knew the story, it was the origin story of the kingdom and the Seven Kingdoms of Old. The edges depicted the War of the Priestesses, the bloody, years-long conflict that destroyed the lands and forced Queen Nevernia's hand. The six priestesses were painted with great detail, each one illustrated with her vein of magical expertise surrounded by gore. The razed landscapes of the six kingdoms they hailed from melted into the image of a lake, the horrifying death morphing into calm, crystal waves. Dead center among those waves was the picture of Nevernia herself, a knife plunged into heart. Standing above in the middle of performing a ritual was Calleix, the witch that helped Nevernia end the bloodshed and carnage with their knowledge of ancient magic. It was certainly a masterpiece, both terrifying and beautiful, and Evie couldn't help but stare at the meticulous detail.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" said a voice from behind her.

Evie whipped her head around to find a middle-aged man standing behind her holding a small stack of books in his arms. He was the same man Evie saw the first day she ever stepped foot in this marvelous place. He wasn't looking at her, instead staring up at the painting.

"Yeah," she replied, though unsure of what to say about it.

He seemed to take that as a reasonable response. "The artist, I think, really captured the personalities and powers in the midst of the destruction they caused." He stepped closer to Evie. "Really beautiful work."

Evie nodded. "Yeah." Evie's eyes were just fixed on the dying witch with the bleeding heart. "Nevernia looks a lot like Cassie." She supposed it should've been the other way around, but she didn't really make the comment expecting a response. It was just an observation said aloud.

The man must've understood what she meant by it all because he responded, "I've thought that a lot while admiring this piece. There certainly is no doubt she's a Ravenwell."

Evie didn't really have anything else to say, she just looked away from the painting and towards the man. He also had ceased his admiring, now turning to face her.

"Were you looking for books on the War of the Priestesses?" he asked.

"Oh, no," she replied, though she made a note to look through those books at a later date. "I was wanting to look into stories from Valoran– folklore, urban legends. Things like that."

"Hm..." the man lifted a finger to his chin. He half-recited from memory and half-spoke aloud to himself. "We don't have much in the Common Tongue... but I did just get a shipment from Bellbury, so there might be something in there– fantastic translators there."

"Oh, the original tongue is fine," Evie said. "I don't need a translated version if you don't have it."

The man looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You're fluent in Valorn?"

Evie nodded, her smile a thin line. "I like reading in the original language, I feel like meanings get lost in translation too much."

The man chuckled softly. "It's not common I find people like that around here. Good to know that the younger generation hasn't completely lost all appreciation for the origins of the written word." He motioned for Evie to follow him, and she happily did. "I was wondering how long I'd have to wait before the girl who loves books visited me."

Evie smiled at the ground. He'd given her a nickname. "I know, I've been preoccupied with a few things. I'm glad I finally found some time to stop by."

"The visit is greatly appreciated," the man grinned as well. "I'm afraid I didn't quite catch your name the first time."

"Evie."

"Well, it's nice to finally talk to you, Evie. I'm Bedivern– I'm the librarian if you hadn't already figured that out."

"It's nice to officially meet you, Bedivern."

They reached the small wooden desk that Evie remembered so fondly. Bedivern placed his stack of books on the nearest clear space of the desk and began rifling through the pile of papers. Once he found what he was looking for, Bedivern held up the paper and squinted at it for a few moments.

"Ah, yes. It's as I thought. We've got quite the collection of Valoran mythology and folklore. There's compilations, full epics, and even some children's books with artist renditions."

"That sounds perfect!" Evie said. "Where can I find them?"

"They'll be up on the second floor on the other side of the library. They'll be with all the other mythologies, just look for the titles in Valorn."

"Okay!"

"I can let you know of any new arrivals as well," Bedivern offered.

"Oh, absolutely!" Evie exclaimed. "Thank you so much."

"I just hope to see you again soon."

Evie beamed at him before racing up the stairs. She breezed past hundreds of tomes, easily. Some shelves were filled with plain, ordinary books– books that you could find in an old store or library– but some were the most ornate and beautiful books Evie had ever seen. Evie simply could not wait to hold them in her hands and scour their contents for hours.

The titles of a couple books caught Evie's eye– ones about Faieries and such– and the princess knew she had hit the section she was looking for. She slipped into the nearest aisle and began perusing the volumes on the shelves. As of the moment she was only looking for titles in foreign tongues, but the names of the works before her seemed to only be in the Common Tongue... more specifically, works about Nevernian legends which she realized as she looked a bit harder at the names. Most of them she either had read or were very familiar with, so she was not as impressed as she thought she would be with the library.

Then a small, little book presented itself to her in the way of just peacefully existing on its shelf. Despite being on a mission, Evie knew that when a book presented itself, one must take it as a sign and investigate, so she got a bit sidetracked from her quest.

Like a lot of the works around it, this book was very plain and simple. It was a hardback, a sort of clay color based on the unworn parts of the cover. The lettering itself was also quite standard. Though it was a similar color to Cassandra's special book she had hidden away in her room, it did not shimmer nearly as much. That one had an almost unearthly quality to it... this book was just ordinary. And there was nothing wrong with that at all.

Evie realized that the title was familiar: The Epic of Mersa & Other Collected Works. Where had she heard that before? The Epic of Mersa... Epic of Mer– oh! Gena had mentioned it, said it was her favorite story. That's right! It was the one that she wanted Evie to teach her how to read. Evie immediately placed it in the crook of her arm, so she could read it and familiarize herself with it. It would be better to teach someone material she was very familiar with. Maybe she'd ask Bedivern if there was another copy laying around that she could keep for herself.

Anyway, she had spent enough time on this distraction. Time to keep searching. The section of Nevernian mythology was absolutely massive she discovered as she continued searching. She had ventured into a realm where she had never heard any of the stories she was coming across. Even though she said she was going to focus on looking for Valoran folklore books, she couldn't help but pick up a couple of the works in the Nevernian section and read a few passages to understand what in the great, wide, world they were about. Really, some of these names and authors were so bizarre and unheard that she had to let her curiosity run a little wild. Just a little bit. Clearly Evie had her work cut out for her and would absolutely have to return soon to borrow more books.

Like, what even was Iterations of Anghath and the Cariabhse?

The Nevernian stories bled into some collections of Deavyan works, but the Deavyan mythology collection seemed to be very limited. Evie was a bit sad about that, and also very grateful that the library in Wystwillow had such an extensive stock– though it did probably help being close to the Nevernian-Deavyan border. The two kingdoms may be eternally at war with each other, but at least she was able to read many a story about their folklore and local legends.

Finally, finally, the princess hit some titles in Valorn. Her brain immediately translated all of it for her, of course. A decent chunk of the aisle was filled with legends in the original language they were published in, so she just collected as many as she could that sounded interesting enough to read first.

The Adventures of Gaelle the Fox... A Collection of Stories from the Valoran Parthenon... The Legendary Horses of Valoran... A Guide to Anghath's Valoran Creatures...

Evie's arms filled up faster than she wanted them to, and she just kept seeing fascinating titles the further into the aisle she ventured. The princess sighed loudly through her nose and set the books she had piled in her arms onto the floor. This was going to take her a moment to decide on what to keep, so she finished scanning the tomes in the section to make the most logical decisions.

Evie grabbed a couple books that seemed like they would touch on almost everything briefly, so hypothetically she would be vaguely familiar with all of the stories that originate from the area. She'd at least be able to take notes as she read on what stories she would like to delve deeper into. When Evie had collected enough compilations to satisfy her broad understanding of the folklore, then she chose three or four works on specific stories, ones whose titles really caught her attention. By the end of the selection process, Evie's pile had only grown if the size changed at all, and she scooped them up into the crook of her arm.

As she exited the aisle, however, movement out of the corner of her eye drew her focus away from returning to Bedivern. Just a few aisles down, there was a flash of a human, so Evie wanted to investigate with her mission over with. Arms completely filled with heavy books, she poked her head around the very large shelves.

Deep in examination was a boy with familiar spiky cinnamon curls, his olive hands grasping absentmindedly at his light blue tunic while his hazel eyes flitted over each title.

"You!" Evie said aloud, startling the boy who was clearly very concentrated on finding whatever book or books he was looking for.

The boy's jaw dropped a little in return, no words coming from his mouth as though he was unsure how to proceed.

"You ran into me!"

Chapter Intro: Never Give All the Heart — SMASH
Chapter Outro: Wildflower — 5 Seconds of Summer