Page 15 of Legends and Librarians
The demon laughed. “You really think it’s that easy? You just show up and think you can take over? Humans are the worst.”
“You did abandon this library,” Lisa said. “How do we know you won’t do it again?”
Fair question, but it wasn’t one I had an answer to. How could I prove myself when I didn’t know what the future would hold? All I could do was reassure them that I wanted to be here. Desperately.
“You’ve already thrown me out once and it didn’t stick,” I said. “I’ll just keep coming back, no matter what you do to me. I love this library and now that I’m back, I’m not leaving it again. I want to make it like it was before, full of magic and people reading. Isn’t that what you want too?”
The three exchanged wary glances. Was I wrong? Did they want something else?
“People bring nothing but problems,” the demon said, crossing his arms over his chest. “We’re doing fine on our own. We don’t need you.”
“Look around, the library’s crumbling,” I said softly. “Without patrons, it’ll never get the story gods’ blessing again and it will fade away. I’m sure you don’t want that.”
Mochi hopped off Roan’s lap, looking downcast. His chitters were quieter as he laid down by Lisa. She patted his head softly. “Sometimes fading away is less painful than being rejected. Can you promise people won’t abandon the library again if you manage to get them back?”
“Well, no, but you can’t seriously be considering just letting the library fade away. What happens to you then?”
The demon shrugged. “We’ll go back in our books like we do each night to rest and it’ll be like we were never here.”
I gripped the edges of my chair, swallowing hard. They couldn’t really be okay with that, could they? I’d just met them, but the idea of them disappearing already bothered me. They were part of the library. My library.
“No, I don’t accept that,” I said firmly. “I won’t let you give up on this library so easily. You have nothing to lose by letting me try to renovate it. I’ve already got a few ideas to make it more popular too, but you need to let me try.”
“Oh?” Lisa leaned forward. “What ideas are those?”
“Well, this library is kind of hard to get to,” I said. “It took Roan and I almost an hour to climb the mountain, so that’s one of the reasons people choose the library in town instead. If we can fix that, we’ll be able to get more people here.”
Lisa and the panda nodded, reassuring me that I was on the right track, even though the demon continued to glare.
“To help with that,” I said, “we need to make this library more of a destination location. The place everyone wants to go to no matter how far away it is. Like it’s an experience more than just a library.”
Roan leaned closer to whisper. “A destination location? Have you seen this place?”
“I want to not only repair it,” I continued, ignoring Roan’s and the demon’s doubts, “but improve it. Add some cozy touches and amenities that other, newer, libraries have. We can think on it together if you want.”
Mochi rolled over, wiggling happily as Lisa smiled. “Mochi says he’s willing to give you a chance. He’ll bring the snacks.”
Yes! One down, two to go.
The demon groaned. “Mochi, how could you give into her so easily?”
“Maybe because he loves this library,” I said.
“Love means different things to different people.” He glared at us. “We just want to live our lives in peace until the library isgone. That’s why we’re here. So, I vote no.”
My stomach dropped. Demon or not, how could he want that? I turned to Lisa, smiling with as much warmth as I could muster.
“Well, I vote for her to stay,” Lisa said. “She’s got good ideas and I’m not ready to give up yet. At least let her try.”
I would have jumped for joy if the demon wasn’t gripping his chair so hard I thought he might break the arms of it. Was two votes enough? Or was it an all or nothing kind of thing?
The silence in the room had me at the edge of my seat as the demon dragged his answer out, toying with me. The sun dipped beneath the horizon, casting shadows over his face and making him even more intimidating until the sun globes turned on.
“Why don’t you leave”—the demon paused ominously, making my stomach tighten—”for today. It’s getting late and I’ve been outvoted, so you’ll be welcomed back.”
“No way,” I said, jumping out of my chair to stare him down. “It took me a whole day to get back inside last time. I’m not leaving, not even for a night!”
Roan cleared his throat. “So, does that mean you’re sleeping here?”
