Rinoa's footsteps echoed strangely in the corridor of the Archive of the World—a forbidden place for ordinary people, where even the royal magus hesitated to tread.
She navigated through rows of shelves that held not books, but fragments of worlds. Pieces of memories, neglected ideas, and the laws of reality that had once been attempted and failed. This was not just a library; it was a museum preserving what could have been.
The air around her lacked the familiar scent of ink. Instead, it felt cold and metallic, steeped in an overwhelming melancholy. Rinoa found herself uncertain of which direction to take.
But it was the room that guided her.
Then the voice emerged.
No visible source could be detected, but its essence felt familiar and strangely relatable.
"Are you looking for me?"
The voice was neither human nor that of an otherworldly being. It was akin to an echo created when two disparate ideas collide in silence.
Rinoa turned around, her eyes captivated by the figure waiting for her.
The Librarian of the World.
A tall figure cloaked in mist, its face composed of countless fragments of faces. Each time it spoke, its expression shifted, as if trying to experience Rinoa's form while connecting with her.
"I… want to know. About myself. About the form that can never endure."
"You want to know if you have the right to exist."
Rinoa held her breath, feeling the piercing tension, for that was indeed the crux of it.
The Librarian stepped closer, its robe flowing like water, erasing the time around them.
"You do not belong on the list of living creatures, nor on the list of magical beings. Yet you exist."
"Is existence merely an illusion if it is not bound by definition?" Rinoa asked, her voice trembling as though caught in the toxic winds whispering from the abyss of non-being. "I want to know where I come from, from the shadows and dust swirling between this world."
The librarian merely nodded, his face trembling with the faint reflections of faces long gone, like dim light casting long shadows on the walls of emptiness. "We are shadows in a shattered mirror; searching for meaning amid the silent chaos."
Rinoa felt a flicker of hope, yet also a biting fear of profound acknowledgment. "Do you feel it too? Our lost existence, none of us finding a place among the twinkling stars?"
"Like two stars trapped in the same sky, flickering in an unavoidable solitude. We are distinct entities, yet we understand the loneliness that burdens the soul."
The librarian stepped closer, his robe softly falling around them, creating an illusion of emptiness that was both frightening and soothing at once, as if time paused for a moment to witness this encounter.
"You are not on the list of living beings. Nor on the list of magical creatures. But you exist."
"Because?"
"Because something has written you. But forgot to give you a definition, as if you are a disconnected paragraph in an abandoned novel."
He touched Rinoa's chest, his fingers softly trembling right where the aether pulsed wildly beneath her skin, carrying unspoken messages.
"You have no defined structure. But your structure is not a flaw; it is merely… a new system yet to be formulated, a mystery waiting to be uncovered."
Rinoa shook her head, her inner voice vibrating amidst the clamor of her thoughts. "What does it all mean? If I have no recognized form, do I truly exist? Is my existence merely a flicker of light lost in the darkness?"
The Librarian looked at her intently, as if attempting to pierce through the fog of melancholy enveloping them. "You are more than just a form, Rinoa. In this silence, we are the unspoken words in a book that is known to very few."
Rinoa felt a heavy anguish settle in her chest, like a dark shadow looming over every heartbeat. "But every page without words feels like a denial. My world now seems alien, as if I am lost in a labyrinth that has no map."
"And every missing word is a reminder of how deeply we are bound by definitions we cannot touch. Within our estrangement lies a beauty that is often overlooked," the Librarian added softly, his voice like the whispered secrets of the Archive of Worlds and the hope buried deep within the soul.
"Then why does Gaia want to erase me?" The question slipped from Rinoa's lips, filled with piercing uncertainty.
"Because Gaia was born from an old structure. It cannot tolerate forms that cannot be measured, which it perceives as inconsistent with the vision it has ingrained," the Librarian replied with a tone that longed for understanding.
Rinoa lowered her gaze, her heart heavy with pain, as if trapped in a deep sense of shame. "If I am a new form... can I create a new foundation?"
The Librarian looked at her intently, and in an instant, his entire expression seemed focused: a faint smile of someone who truly understands the piercing solitude.
"You cannot create new laws. But you can become a precedent," he replied firmly yet gently.
"Proof that incongruity is not always a fault." Rinoa's voice trembled, holding onto a fragile hope.
Then the Librarian offered something unexpected.
Not a book, but a small fragment resembling cracked glass, shimmering in mesmerizing colors that were difficult to explain, as if containing the essence of every untold story.
"You know, Rinoa," the Librarian began, his voice soft like morning dew gently trickling between the crevices of solitude. "Between us lies a labyrinth untouched by time and space, trapped in such profound emptiness that even dreams cannot portray it."
Rinoa felt a delicate thread connecting her to that figure, a smile holding secrets as her eyes revealed unspoken pain. "How could the people out there possibly understand us? They only see shadows, not the true souls within."
The Librarian nodded, as if sensing every vibration in Rinoa's heart. "Our existence speaks louder than words. In this silence, we are the unexpressed library of a story without an end, harboring countless secrets."
"This is Nota Nullis. An ancient legal fragment from the era before Gaia, when existence was defined by a will that transcended existing systems."
"Take this to the council. However, do not use it."
"Unless they try to forcibly define you."
Rinoa clutched it tightly, feeling its chill and familiarity. Something about the object felt like a long-forgotten memory.
"Are you... a being like me as well?" she whispered, her voice echoing softly in the empty space.
The Librarian smiled, and his voice trembled gently, bringing warmth to the silence. "I am not a being, Rinoa. I am the result of all the questions that have never been answered, the light from doubts that have long smoldered."
Then he vanished.
And the World Archive slowly rolled itself up, concealing the winding corridors like secrets longing to be forgotten. It awaited the next question sincere enough to enter this room filled with mystery.
"Rinoa…" The Librarian called her softly, like the whisper of the wind brushing against dry leaves, adding a mystical aura around them. "Among all that is forgotten, I am the mirror of your light and shadow."
Rinoa fell silent, savoring each word that flowed gently, like a stream of water tracing the cracks of stone. "Do you also feel alienated?" she asked, her voice trembling, creating a vibration that could almost be felt in the air. "Though all of this surrounds me, my heart feels empty, as if wrapped in a fog that never fades."
The Librarian stepped closer, his shadow gliding between the countless bookshelves, as if he were part of that literary world itself. "Loneliness is the companion of every seeker. Here, I accompany those trapped in a labyrinth of doubt," he said with a melancholic tone, as if understanding the layered burdens she carried, a profound understanding that warmed Rinoa's heart.
Rinoa's eyes shimmered, reflecting the intertwining of hope and doubt. "Can your presence provide an answer?"
"Answers are transient, like shadows dancing on the walls of a cave," he replied, his voice soft yet filled with meaning. "Only acceptance will free you from the shackles of uncertainty."
As Rinoa stepped out of the room, she left uncertainty behind. However, she carried no answers with her. Instead, she held something more complex:
Possibility.
With slow steps, Rinoa departed from the Archive of Worlds, her hand tightly gripping the fragment of the Nullis Note. Yet, the world around her felt strange, as if time and space were conspiring. Too bright, too silent, and oddly, too nostalgic.
She looked down—her breath caught, feeling an undefined weight.
Beside her, the shadow of someone passed by, adding to the darkness within her soul.
She turned quickly. Empty, only emptiness greeted her.
However, that voice emerged. Not from outside, but from the depths of her heart.
"You never asked for me to be there. But I was always there."
Fragments of memory surged like a flood, streaming ceaselessly.
Fragmented pieces, shimmering shards, light and darkness intertwining.
"—his hands lifting my body from the ground
—blood dripping from his white cloak
—his eyes staring into emptiness, even as they succeeded in crossing my soul
—his name…
—Fitran…?
He pronounced that name slowly, as if savoring something that should have been familiar to him.
"But why do I forget? When did I know him? Why does his face merge with feelings of safety, and also… danger?
And suddenly, another flash of memory zoomed—Elena and Kael standing on the ruins, while Fitran, bound by the black magic of Arkanum Veritas, knelt in emptiness beneath them.
"We cannot let him free…" Elena's voice rang clear, full of tension.
"He is too close to something that must not be known," Kael added, his tone burning with uncertainty.
Rinoa staggered, as if the world around her swayed.
Could it be? They… were attacking him? The question swirled in her mind, like a storm that would not cease.
Why did no one tell me? Why did Elena choose to remain silent, trapped in a biting silence? Why does Kael only speak of magic and laws, as if all of this were a puzzle to be solved?
"They know I wouldn't be able to accept the truth. So they gave me a role. They turned me into a tool.
I thought I was seeking justice… but I am merely a directed hunter, trapped in a game I do not understand."
Then determination arose within her, igniting like an unquenchable fire.
Calm. Cold. Sharp as obsidian, ready to cut through the boundaries between truth and lies.
"If they truly hurt him—then Arkanum Veritas must be destroyed. Completely. Until the unseen roots are gone,"
Rinoa turned away, no longer facing the courtroom that now felt foreign and threatening.
She stepped toward Cryptum, the sacred place where Arkanum kept the core of their magic—Sigil of the Seventh Ocean, the grand symbol that ties their collective memory into an unbroken flow of time.
In the shadows, the soft voice of the Librarian vibrated, "You know, Rinoa, living in such emptiness is not a wound that can be healed. When you stepped here, you separated yourself from the others, much like a star that falls alone in the universe."
Rinoa replied, "I am not a star. I am discarded dust, a forgotten hope. And even though the sky seems empty, I do not wish to be part of the syndicate that ensnares us."
"But what remains of you if you sever yourself from the light?" the Librarian asked with a trembling voice, as if reaching for a distant hope. "Do these people, in their pursuit of truth, not make you feel more isolated?"
"Isolated?" Rinoa lowered her head, her long eyelashes concealing the longing in her gaze. "Truly, I am trapped in a labyrinth without end. There is no way home."
"If I am not part of the system… then I am not bound by its loyalty," she added, her conviction strengthening her resolve.
Rinoa was no longer the executor of Gaia.
She had become an awakened anarchist, a free spirit in a world shackled by norms and power.
The Arkanum Veritas—a cunning shadow organization that operated in the veils of law and magic—would soon realize the urgency of the situation if they lost control over one small but potentially significant variable named Rinoa.
World Archive = The Forbidden Library, the Whirlwind of Transformation Magic.
"Fufufufu... I never expected this to be so intriguing," said the Librarian, now transformed into Mammon, gazing with eyes gleaming with deceit.
"Rinoa's memories are quite challenging to acquire," Mammon continued, his voice rich with anticipation for the challenge ahead.
"This girl is as terrifying as Fitran," she added, a mysterious smile spreading across his lips.
The Nota Nullis provided contained Fragments of Rinoa's Memory, so that with just a touch, her memories would resurge, spilling forth all the buried secrets. However, Mammon also infused falsehoods within it, causing Rinoa's memories to intertwine with lies.
Mammon laughed joyfully, his laughter echoing in the darkness, as if celebrating the power he was about to draw from Rinoa.
"I want to see her far into the future..."