Chapter
1 – An Adventure for Knowledge
There are stories about places that
hold ancient and secret knowledge that could change the world. All of them are
just fantasy and wishful thinking, however, Lizzie is on the hunt for a real
library of knowledge. She traverses an ancient city that was known for its
wisdom that was burned down hundreds of years ago. While scouring through the
ruins, she finds the ruins of a library. All the books were either burned or
taken by scavengers years ago, so she isn’t able to find any. What she does
find is a switch hidden in the floor that’s deep below the ground. To activate
it, she takes off one of her arms and pushes the switch. It activates a hidden stairway
that leads below the city.
The staircase is lit up by fires of
white flame. At the end of the staircase, Lizzie finds a hole in a wall. She
can’t see what’s inside nor can see use her arms to reach it. The shape of the
hole suggests that heads are meant to go in it, so Lizzie takes off her head and
her arm and uses them to make her head go into the hole. The only thing at the
end of the hole is an eyehole that she uses to peer into what’s beyond it. Looking
into the eyeholes reveals a well-kept library filled with mannequins that are walking
around and reading books.
“I’ve finally found it,” Lizzie
says to herself.
She then tries to pull her head
back but is unable to. While looking around to see what the problem is, she
sees that she’s in the library now with her entire body with a wall behind her
that doesn’t have any eyeholes on it. While wondering how she managed to get to
the other side of the wall, a tall librarian mannequin with six arms in a long
skirt and a frilled short-sleeved shirt approaches her from behind.
“Hello, miss. My name is Ms. Ebrietas
and welcome to the library of knowledge that you have been searching for,” the
woman says.
“How do you know I was looking for
this place?” Lizzie asks.
“Everyone who searches for
knowledge eventually ends up here.”
“How did I end up on this side of
the wall?”
“I transported you here. I learned
the magic trick from a book on spells.”
“You have those kinds of books
here?”
“We have every kind of book here.
Just look above you. There are ten floors of books separated by genre. For
example, we have books on theology, history, philosophy, various kinds of
fiction and nonfiction, and politics though that section is always messy to navigate.”
“I’m looking for deeper knowledge.
The kind that you can’t find anyplace else.”
Ms. Ebrietas smiles.
“So, you’re the adventurous kind of
learner. That’s perfect. I used to be like you. In some ways, I still am. Would
you like to know more about the library?”
“Yes, I do.”
Ms. Ebrietas’ smile widens as she
picks up a book off a nearby shelf and opens it. Lizzie is sucked into the pages
of the book along with Ms. Ebrietas. When she blinks, Lizzie sees that she’s above
the ancient city and watches as it’s being attacked.
Ms. Ebrietas narrates, “The city
was knowledgeable in all things except man’s tendency towards violence. They thought
that if they could maintain peaceful relations with everyone then they wouldn’t
have to spend many resources on their army and could just focus on their prosperity
and quest for knowledge, however, that wasn’t the case for an empire that took tricked
the city’s inhabitants into thinking they were friendly only to launch a
surprise attack and burn the city down in a day.”
As Ebrietas narrates the history of
the city, Lizzie watches as the city goes through the story she tells from the
times of peace to the day of destruction. Lizzie tries to touch a book on the floor
but is almost hit by a fire arrow and pulls back her hand in response
especially since she can feel the heat that comes from the fire.
“Watch yourself, miss. The people
in the story might not be able to see you, but they can still hurt you.”
The two transport themselves to a
burning library.
“As the city was being looted, one librarian
who valued knowledge more than life and sacrificed his soul to make this
library, so that knowledge of all kinds will survive.”
Ms. Ebrietas closes the book she’s
holding. This forces both of them out from the book and back into the
library.
“Who did he give his soul to?”
“Some say a demon. Others say an
angel. I prefer thinking that it was an angel because how can knowing more lead
someone to ruin?”
“Adam and Eve and the tree of
knowledge of good and evil?”
“This knowledge isn’t forbidden by
God as far as I know.”
“How did you become a librarian here?”
“I could write a book on that, but
I’m sure there are many stories here that are more interesting than mine.”
“Where should I even start?”
“Where do you want to start?”
“I don’t know. I had an idea where
to start if I found a place like this, but now that I’m here and looking at it,
I have no idea.”
“Okay then. Where does your heart tell
you to start?”
“Hmm.”
“If you can’t think about it, then
ask yourself why you came here in the first place.”
“I came here looking for deeper
knowledge. I want to know the secrets behind knowledge itself.”
“Maybe theology is your choice? God
is the source of all knowledge after all.”
“I wouldn’t say that I’m looking
for religious texts. Maybe it's better if I am more specific. I want to know
why I need deeper knowledge to begin with.”
“Now that’s a special section of
the library few go into, but I’m sure you’ll find your answers there. Let me
show you to it.”
Ms. Ebrietas shows Lizzie to the
elevator. The elevator shoots up as soon as Lizzie steps on it and it appears
as if it’s going to smash into the ceiling. Instead, the elevator goes through
the ceiling as if it wasn’t there.
“Welcome to the eleventh floor of
the library,” Ms. Ebrietas says.
The eleventh floor is lit with
black flames, unlike the other floors that had torches with white flames. The
black flames give the floor a darkened light that lights up the floor in an ominous
way as some places are lit up while others are pitched black. As Ms. Ebrietas leads
Lizzie through the maze-like series of bookshelves, Lizzie sees that there aren’t
any mannequins here unlike the other floors.
“Do many people go up here?” Lizzie
asks.
“No. Few do because they have yet
to realize the true value of knowledge, but you have realized it,” Ms. Ebrietas
says before picking up a book shaped in the form of a head. “I remember being up
here for the first time and spending days here reading through all the books
until…”
“Until…what?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to spoil it
for you, but you will find what you want even though you might not know what it
is yet. I’ll leave you to it.”
Ms. Ebrietas gives Lizzie the skull
shaped book.
“Thank you. Are there any more…Ms.
Ebrietas?”
As Lizzie looks around, she sees
that she is alone. She can hear someone walking in the darkness and assumes
that it’s Ms. Ebrietas. Even though she isn’t sure, she keeps the thought in
her head to keep her comfortable as she enters the skull shaped book. She opens
her eyes to see the anatomy of the brain, pictures of skulls and the anatomy of
other animal’s brains. There’s a skeleton in the center of it all with her and
as soon as she moves, eyes open up all over the skeleton’s body.
It says, “Do you want to learn why
we seek deeper knowledge? Well, of course you do. That’s why you went through
the effort of finding a book like this, right? Think about knowledge and the
beings that use it. God, angels, the devil and his angels, and us humans. You
aren’t some lower being, are you?”
Lizzie transforms into a cat. She’s
unable to think clearly and is only able to move when she feels like it and isn’t
completely in control of her actions.
“Do you see how it feels to be a
lower being? This is what it feels like to not be knowledgeable.”
Lizzie then completely disappears.
She feels and sees nothing or rather it would be more accurate she can feel
less than nothing. She feels nonexistent.
“This is what it feels like to not
know anything at all or rather how it feels like not to exist.”
Lizzie pops back into existence and
chokes as she catches her breath. She then feels a rush of energy go through
her body as a blue light radiates from out of her.
“And this is what it feels like to
be enlightened. To be like those in Heaven. To be like God. Doesn’t it feel exhilarating?
With this intelligence, you can do whatever you want in life until the day you
die. You can rearrange your body and shape yourself and the world around you to
your will’s desire. This is the power of deeper knowledge. If it’s not tempting
you with its sweet song now, then I don’t know what will.”
Lizzie shapes her body in the way
she wants with the clothes she wants while shaping the world and the events
that move in without even moving. Instead, her head races with a thousand
thoughts per millisecond as it uses the power as its disposal to enact Lizzie’s
will. After that rush, all the power leaves her as she returns to normal.
“Seek deeper knowledge. Learn the
secrets behind reality. Know how to use your mind for more than mere thinking
and you will have enlightenment and transcend the limits of your mind.”
The book shuts itself as it ends
and lets Lizzie out of it.
“Wow…” Lizzie whispers to herself, “I
have to read more.”
Lizzie begins to frantically look
through the shelves for books she will think will help her in her quest for
deeper knowledge.
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